The tall, the small, and THE DEAD
by The Bounty Hunter Sev
Summary: After leaving the Takagi's compound, our favourite zombie slayers are forced to fight old and new enemies alike. But they won't have to do it alone because not only will they have the help of a bad ass sniper chick , but an advanced super soldier..."Spartans never die, they just time travel to the past...wait huh?"
1. Chapter 1

Trying my hand at a crossover also my first fan fic! Go easy on the new guy yeah? Lemme know what y'all think.

Disclaimer I don't own High school of the dead nor do I own Halo.

Chapter one

The living and the DEAD

I was running as fast as I could through the collapsing building. Alice clung to me as tightly as she could with one arm, with the other she held onto her trusty dog Zeke. "Francisco onee-chan won't drop us, Francisco onee-chan won't drop us, Francisco onee-chan won't drop us." Through all the chaos and gunshots I heard her whispering that over and over again like a mantra, not only to calm the dog but to reassure herself as well. Careful not to hurt her I strengthened my grip as I weaved through the maze of cubicles. Sure with my armour I could run straight through the desks but I didn't want to risk hurting the pink haired girl or the brave pup. "Spartan you have to find an exit NOW!" Rika screamed into her comm. "I'm almost out!" I yelled back. I saw a busted window and made a hard right. Luck was on my side as the maze opened up into a straight away. "Alice sweetie hold on tight and don't open your eyes!" I said as I charged to the window at top speed. Rika yelled "Saeko kill that fucker!" "On it." The samurai replied as calmly as she could. She didn't make it in time as I saw the rocket flying right at me. "NO DAMN IT!" Screamed Saeko as she watched in horror. "Hold on tight kid." I said as I dove for the window.

4 days ago...

"I can't believe you broke a humvee." Takagi grumbled quietly. Shizuka giggled then spoke "Again sorry about that I kinda panicked seeing so many of Them in the road. When Takashi told me to floor it I didn't want to leave Them standing let alone follow us any further. "Yeah Takagi see she was looking out for us." Said Takashi keeping a lookout for any undead trying to sneak up on the teens from behind a car or come creeping from some alley way. "My feet hurt." Complained Hirano as he trudged along, rifle in one hand, Alice's hand in the other. Zeke barked weakly in agreement. It was Saeko who spoke next "True, but now we are in the open with no transportation and no form of cover from-" she was cut off as five zombies seemed to have materialized from nowhere. "Them." The Samurai finished as she unsheathed her sword. I readied my bayonet and moved myself in front of Alice and Shizuka while Takagi drew her luger and aimed. "Wait a sec Takagi." I started "Let Takashi and Saeko handle this, the less noise the better." She hesitated before lowering her weapon. "Fine Miyamoto you win." I shook my head. "It's not about me winning or losing it's about us all surviving." I replied. As I turned my gaze toward the approaching threat I swear I saw the pinkette blush. "Saeko with me, everyone else stay back and cover just in case more start to show up." Takashi ordered handing his shotgun to Hirano in exchange for his trusty baseball bat. We stayed our ground and Tensed up, ready to jump in or retreat. "Saeko I'll lead and take the first one when he's down we'll switch and you take the next one. We'll do this until they all go down." Takashi said advancing as quietly as he could. Saeko nodded and together they stopped walking and started sprinting at the enemy ahead. "Now!" Takashi yelled as he jumped up and brought his bat straight down on the undead womans head. She went down immediately. Just as one of Them made to grab him Saeko lunged forward and decapitated the monster. Takashi got up and rushed Saeko "DOWN!" Was all he said causing Saeko to drop right as a set of hands were about to close around her neck. Takashi swung with all his might and bashed the monster in the temple causing it to fall backwards, half of its skull caved in. Three down, two to go. I grinned to myself knowing that They didn't stand a chance against my helped Saeko up off the ground they grinned at each other then charged at the remaining two undead. It was over in seconds. One head was caved in while the other rolled away from its body. I finally remembered to breath, not even realizing that I had been holding my breath. I looked at Takashi waiting for him to let us know our next move but before he said the word he turned to Saeko and started whispering to her in a calming voice. At first I was confused but I took another look at Saeko and realized she was breathing heavy, her knuckles were white as she gripped her sword tightly. "Takashi..." Shizuka spoke gently "Is everything alright?" The nurse asked. Takashi looked back at us and grinned "Yeah just give her a second, she pushed herself too hard is all." Shizuka nodded and waited. But that didn't make sense. I've seen Saeko in action many times outnumbered like 30 to 1 and she didn't even break a sweat. But now she kills 2 in a row and can't handle it.

Before I could voice my thoughts a shrill scream pierced the air. "Shit." Said Takashi turning toward the sound. I was about to follow but a gunshot rooted me to my spot. Another scream "PLEASE STOP!" Cried a woman in unbearable pain. "Everyone behind those cars now!" Hissed Takagi. We made a beeline for the wrecked cars on the curb then dropped. "Alice close your eyes and cover your ears ok." Whispered Hirano to the little girl. She nodded and buried her face into his chest, eyes shut and ears covered. I turned my attention back to the street just in time to see a woman limping into the street from the intersection. She was moving as fast as she could but was bleeding a lot from her left leg. "SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE!" The woman screamed just as another shot rang out and exploded from her chest. She fell to the ground coughing up blood and crying. " Fuck this." Said Takashi as he made a move to go help but Saeko and Shizuka stopped him. He looked at them angry and confused. Shizuka spoke softly with tears in her eyes "Even if we saved her from the gunman...We don't have the medical supplies to save her." She shut her eyes tightly before speaking again. "She's bleeding internally...We can't save her..." She finished sadly. "You can't save everyone Takashi." Said Saeko. Face tight with rage he reluctantly stayed down and watched as the woman stopped crawling. Hers sobs were weak as a group of men approached her. "...please...don't..." She begged quietly. My eyes widened when I saw a man approach the woman. He crouched down and smiled menacingly "You think groveling is gunna help you?" He asked coldly. "Oh no." I said as I recognized him as the guy from the gas station. Takashi must have recognized him from his voice alone. "I knew it!" He whispered angrily. Another man approached him "Shinji we gotta go smoke the bitch already." Shinji smiled at the man and without looking at her put his gun to her neck and pulled the trigger. Shinji laughed as they went back the way they came and disappeared. As soon they were a safe distance from us Takashi was up and moving toward the girl with the rest of us following. "Hey stay with me!" He said cradling her head in his arms. Tears were forming in my eyes at the sight. The girl looked up at him and tried to speak but only choked on her blood. Crying still she reached for his hand and he took it. She smiled at him then went still. She closed her eyes and died in his arms, the smile still on her face.

"Rei give me the bayonet." I looked up at him "What?" I asked him. He refused to look at us. Instead he held his hand out, waiting for my weapon. Reluctantly I handed him my M1A1. I heard him whisper something to the murdered woman before he quickly stabbed her through the forehead. "What the hell is wrong with you!?" I half yelled at him. "She was going to turn...into one of Them...I couldn't let her suffer anymore..." His voice cracked. Saeko stepped forward and took his hand in hers. She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off when another gun shot rang out. It came from the direction the gunmen left from. Shaking his head as if dazed Takashi said "Ok let's try to find some cover it's going to be dark soon, any ideas?" Hirano cleared his throat "My house isn't but five minutes away from here. We can be there before night and I have plenty of food and water." Takashi nodded his head with a grin on his face "Sounds good to me let's go!" "Alright Kohta lead the way! Said Alice with her fist raised. We started walking to Hiranos place. I turned around to make sure we were all accounted for and saw Takashi still standing looking at the murdered woman. Saeko was with him, holding his hand. I could hear him whispering but couldn't make it out. Hand in hand they both turned around and started walking toward the rest of us. I quickly turned around and kept walking. They're holding hands now? They ARE pretty close now. I wonder if...

Five minutes turns into 15 due to the fact that we had to fight more of Them. Once we had won the fight we all proceeded to enter Hirano's home. Although not as big as Takagi's giant mansion, it was still a pretty nice spot. "Ok just to be safe Hirano, Saeko and, I will sweep the house. Rei, stay here with Alice and Sensei." I nodded and wished them luck then they disappeared into the house. Half a minute passed while Alice, Shizuka and, I waited in the front yard when suddenly there was a sound coming from down the street. A creepy purple glow was shining from around the corner, bathing the street a shade of purple. Zeke began to growl and suddenly the light was gone. I began to relax slightly when suddenly Alice screamed. I turned just in time to see two of Them moving in on on the little one and Shizuka. Zeke was barking trying to draw the monsters attention but it wasn't doing much good. I ran to their aid but I was cut off when another one of Them cut me off and tackled me to the ground. I screamed but then it started to choke me. I could barely keep it from biting my face but it was getting closer with every second. I kept trying to call for help but I couldn't get any air. My lungs burned but I wouldn't go down without a fight. The screams from my friends started to fade and I started to blackout. Not like this, I don't want to die like this. Suddenly I could breath again. I gratefully sucked in air and just laid on the ground, unable to move. Who saved me? Oh no, Alice and Shizuka! I tried to get up but couldn't do anything except cough and cry. That's when I noticed that I couldn't hear my friends anymore. I failed, they must have been gotten by Them. My tears flowed from my eyes as i struggled to catch my breath. " Don't cry big sister. We're ok!" I opened my eyes and saw Alice kneeling over me. She looked scared that I was crying. Shizuka was suddenly next to me too, checking me for bites all the while telling me to breath and to be still. Tears of joy started falling from my eyes as i grabbed Alice and hugged her tightly. Zeke walked up to my face and started licking me. Convinced that we were ok I asked "Who...Who saved us?" Shizuka looked to the street, a little scared before replying "I didn't catch his name. He's still fighting Them in the street." Takashi, Saeko and, Hirano burst out of the house, weapons at the ready. "Holy shit are you guy-WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" Yelled Takashi. I sat up and looked at the street and paled. There was at least 20 undead trying to get in but they were being blocked. That's when i saw it. It was moving so fast my eyes couldn't follow Its movements. All I could do was watch as this thing decimated Them in seconds. I realized that the thing fighting Them looked like a big robot. It-no HE was certainly fighting like a machine. An undead had snuck up behind him and lunged at him. It clung to him and bit down hard on his shoulder. "NO!" I yelled but then I saw his whole body shimmer with a bright white light, he reached back grabbed the monster and threw him with ease. "What the hell!?" Said Hirano. I turned to him and asked "Hey Hirano is he with the SDF?" He hesitated, then shook his head "I uh...I don't know." I turned back to find the fight over. The giant red man was the only one still standing. He looked up and down street, checking for more of Them only to find none. Satisfied he turned around and started walking to the house. Saeko jumped in between him and the front gate. The red man stopped and looked at her. Is she crazy!? Did she not just see this giant fight? Not only is he strong AND fast AND he can fight, he was wearing some sort of super body armor or something. They stared each other down, seconds felt like hours. Finally after about 10 seconds of tense silence the red man slowly started to raise his hands to his head. "I'm not a threat." The red man spoke taking off his helmet. "My name is Francisco, Spartan 07 beta company but you can call me Sev." Sev smiled then said "I'm here to help."

Well lil homies lemme know what y'all think yeah!

This is your favorite bounty hunter signing off!


	2. In between

In between the scenes...

Hey y'all first of all I want to thank helljumper775 and leechy1991 for following the story and putting it on your favorites list. Wow that alone means so much to me in all honesty I thought it would take at least a few weeks before anybody even SAW my story let alone read it. You two are awesome really thanks. spellchecker011111 thank you for your kind words. Ima keep writing I won't stop until this story is completed. And finally to Trife thanks for being the first person to review my story. I appreciate that you took the time to review my story and that you like it. Also you're right. Spartans almost never take off their helmets. But Jorge (R.I.P.) did take his helmet off to try and comfort that civi. I was just thinking that since I portrayed that Shizuka and the others were a little afraid of Sev at first I thought that by removing his helmet it would have a similar effect.

Now as you can probably guess this story will be told from the points of view of both Rei and Sev. My plan for the next chapter will be to tell a little bit more about the Spartan Sev. I'm going to explain how he ended up in the past and I'm going to give his backstory. But I'm going to do it over the course of the story. When he's explaining things to Takashi and the others he's going to be more reserved for now. Like any other Spartan he's not going to want to talk about his past especially since he's a Spartan 3. Now if you don't know the Spartan 3's are little different from the Spartan 2's because they weren't kidnapped. The Spartan 3's are orphans, they lost everything when the Covenant attacked. Although some did lose their families to the insurrectionist threat. When the surviving children of these attacks were found some of them were (for lack better words) adopted into the UNSC and turned into what we know as the Spartan 3's.

I'm going to let you guys know now Francisco is different from most of the Spartans for two reasons. First is that he has a hard time of hiding his emotions like all the other Spartans were trained to do. He has issues even for a Spartan. Unlike other Spartans, Francisco is very passionate, he will not only show when he's happy or sad but will openly show dislike of things whenever he wants. Of course because of this he has had problems with not only his fellow Spartans but also his superior officers. This will attract the attention of a certain scientist, if you're familiar with the Halo series you probably have a very good guess as to who this is. The second reason and probably even more important than the first is that our zombie slaying super soldier has...well...oh you'll find out. I felt it necessary to share these things with y'all and i hope you guys can dig it.

Sincerely yours

The Bounty Hunter


	3. Chapter 3

Here we go! Shout out to the homies and honorary hunters leechy1991 and helljumper775! Also if you like the story and want to be apart of the ride, fave and follow it! Now let's moo this! Also I don't own High school of the dead nor do I own Halo.

Chapter 2

Warrior from the stars, planet of the DEAD

"This is Spartan 07 calling anyone that can hear me! I have 8 dead Spartans with me and I'll be joining them soon if I don't get some backup here ASAP how copy?! Over!" Again all I heard was static. "Damn. Something must be jamming my comms. If I don't find the source then I'm screwed!" I said talking to no one in particular. I looked at my dead squadmates and wished I could do something, ANYTHING, to bring them back. Plasma bolts from some elites brought me back to reality however as the rocks I was taking cover behind began to get decimated. I waited for a break in fire while I checked weapons. I had a BR55 battle rifle with 8 mags, two frag grenades, my combat knife and, my good looks. "I'm so dead." The incoming elites stopped shooting. I popped up from behind my cover and threw a grenade with a lot of arc in my throw, making it fly high in to the sky. With their attention elsewhere I started advancing and fired down on them. They all scrambled to cover but that was when the grenade hit the ground, bounced twice and landed behind two elites. The grenade went off and the covenant returned fire.

I spotted an elite charging my position dual wielding plasma rifles. He was closing fast and didn't stop firing. I ducked back down, remembering what I was told about my new gear. "Now remember your new armor will make you much faster, your shields will be able to take twice as many hits but because of the 'retract' ability this armor has, the armor plating won't be as strong as to what you are used to." Ok doc. Time to put that to the test. I popped out of cover and started shooting at the advancing elite. He snarled and kept firing. Plasma started connecting with my shields just as bullets impacted his. For a few seconds we just fired. At this rate my shields would have popped and I would be well on my way towards death, but he was hardly putting a dent on me. His shields were spent though and I put another 3 rounds in his head. He went down and I took cover. "Holy shit that worked!" I said out loud. Ok that was my shields test. Let's try out the speed. During my dry run with this armor, the good doctor told me to only go as fast as I needed to. "Never push your speed. Not until you master it at least. Although I doubt it CAN be mastered." Damn Doc, always so negative.

I looked at my motion tracker and saw that the covenant were closing in from the front of my position. Ok my shields are better than what they have, I have one frag left, 24 rounds in my br and 8 extra mags. I looked around and took in my surroundings. Red rocks sprang out of the ground providing perfect cover for the enemy. Every time someone moved a lot of sand and dust kicked up. The sun wasn't very bright but they weren't exactly fighting in the dark. I could see the refueling refinery in the distance...along with the raging battle taking place just outside of it. Rockets sailed through the air and hit a few Seraphs. I smiled as I watched them spiral out of control and hit the ground, burning brightly the whole time. I continued to survey the area and saw an elite I had killed earlier. The bastard had gotten the drop on Raymond and Chelsea, running them through with two energy swords. When he came for me I had already picked up Chel's M45 shotgun, put it to the elites chest and fired. He went flying through the air, dead before impact. Remembering my best friends die reignited my rage. Just before i jumped out of cover I saw that the elite still held one energy sword in his hand. I smiled as an idea formed in my head. "Yeah...why not."

I made it to the corpse of the dead elite just as the plasma grenades went off where I was taking cover just a few seconds ago. I picked up the sword and slung my br on my back. I pushed a button and the sword sprung to life. "Ok then. Let's do it." Just then another grenade landed in front of me. I made a mad dash to a rock wall on my left, not even realizing how fast I was running and smashed into it. The grenade exploded and showered the area with more rocks and dust. I smiled. If I do this right I can kill these clowns. I started to feel some hope but then it came crashing down as an explosion shook the earth. I looked around and saw that the Seraphs had come back but this time they were just bombarding the whole area. I saw Spartans start to just rush forward to the refinery desperately. Every time a Seraph fired I saw a group of Spartans fly through the air. I hunkered down and waited for a Seraph to come my way. It never came. "What am I not good enough to be bombed!?" I yelled at my enemies. They opened fire on my position again. "Rhetorical question dicks!" I yelled as I primed my last frag and tossed it halfway to them. All or nothing then. The grenade went off and I was moving. With all the cover around and my superior speed all I gotta do is move fast enough to hardly get hit AND advance on them. I just had to be in cover when I stopped or my shields would be depleted. If my shields were gone then I'd be finished since my armor plating isn't as durable as the other Spartans. I peeked around my cover and saw that my plan had worked. Due to all the sand in the area I figured if my grenade could kick up enough sand, I could get away unnoticed. The sand and dust had settled but they were still shooting at my last position. I saw at least 30 elites moving in while another 10 were guarding the entrance to a cave. What struck me as odd was that there was some sort of purple light coming from the cave. Hell when the fighting started it seemed that the enemy didn't want us anywhere near the cave. Also no reinforcements had arrived the whole time. It suddenly dawned on me that it's not that they wouldn't call for backup...they COULDN'T. That's also why they didn't send any Seraphs my way. Their comms were jammed too!

The firing stopped. I charged at them, weaving in between the rocks so they couldn't get a clear shot. I was suddenly in front of an elite. He was so shocked that he didn't notice the sword in my hand until I stabbed him in his chest. "That was for Raymond you monster." I said through gritted teeth. I pulled the sword and kept moving. I jumped on top of a rock spire and looked around, staying low the whole time. I saw two more elites below me. I unsheathed my combat knife and jumped up I waited until I was falling then threw my knife at on elites head. My knife found its mark at the top of the elites skull. The other elite turned around just in time to see his comrade fall. He never saw me coming though. I landed on his back and we both hit the ground. I could tell that i had broke his back but I didn't care. I swung the sword at his neck and cut his head off. I can pull this off. I can beat them. Just then my Motion tracker picked up movement behind me. I turned around turning the blade off and grabbing my battle rifle in one fluid motion, and opened up on elite coming at me. I cut him down and another one appeared right behind him firing a carbine. I crouched and returned fire. Just as I finished him I heard the inevitable click of an empty mag. I reloaded my weapon just as more elites closed in.

15 minutes passed and there I was. For some reason I wasn't dead yet. There was only one elite in my way and he was unarmed. Unfortunately so was I except i still had my combat knife. I wasn't tired at all. In fact I was just getting started. My battle rifle was somewhere behind me. During the battle it had been cleaved in two when an elite took a swing at me with an energy dagger. Not that it mattered since I was out of ammo anyways. My sword ran out of power after I opened the chest cavity of another elite. The elite stared at me very calmly. That unnerved me a lot. This thing just watched me decimate all his buddies and he didn't even bat an eye. That's when he spoke to me "What is your name human?" He asked in a very deep voice. Well that was new. I'm probably the first person to ever speak to one of these things in the middle if a war zone. I remembered what Chelsea told me when we were 6 years old...the night the covenant came. "Maybe they just want to talk to us." She said gazing into the stars an hour before they attacked. "I mean think about it Cisco. They may be aliens to us but we're probably aliens to them." She laughed before turning to me and saying "Maybe we can even be friends with them!" That was 11 years ago. Hell that was a lifetime ago. Remembering Chel made me angry again. "Now you want to talk?" I asked stunned. "MY PLANET IS DEAD. MY FAMILY IS DEAD. MY BEST FRIENDS IN THE WHOLE GALAXY ARE BACK UP ON THAT RIDGE DEAD." I angrily told him through gritted teeth. To Hell with hiding my emotions. "And you have the audacity to ask what MY NAME IS!?" He simply nodded. "FRANCISCO." I said. "MY NAME IS FRANCISCO." Again he nodded before saying "My name is Alei 'Alakavee. You fight well even if you ARE just a human." Said the elite. "I didn't ask what your name was ya know." I told him. "But since we're talking and you're being very social. Why don't you tell me what's in the cave behind you?" I asked nonchalantly. "Because, and i hate to break this to you but I'm going to kill you. So if you could just let me know I'd appreciate that." I finished. He tilted his head to the side before laughing. I'd never heard a laugh so terrible before in my life. "You are brave to speak to me in such a manner human." Alei said. He walked over to a rock and picked up 2 energy swords. I tensed up but quickly took a fighting stance. He laughed again before tossing a sword to me. I caught it and looked at him. If I wasn't wearing a helmet he'd have seen the very confused look on my face. "I'll let you see what's in that cave." Said Alei igniting his sword. "But first you will have to kill me to gain that right." The right? What's that supposed to mean? "Fine then." I turned on my sword "If that's how you want to play it!" I yelled. We charged at each other.

Right when we were about 10 feet away from each other we both lunged. As if we were reading each other's mind. Our swords collided in a flash of sparks as we sailed past each other. I hit the ground and rolled. I turned around to see that he had recovered already and was charging again. Not wanting to disappoint him I ran at him. This time we just hacked and slashed like maniacs. It was clear that he had trained with this weapon for a very long time. But what I lacked in skill I made up with speed. I blocked his attacks and did my best to counter attack but he was fast enough to barely block me. He feinted and I went to block but instead I was kicked hard into a rock spire. He rushed and lunged at me. He went to stab but I rolled out of the way just as his blade was about to make contact with my chest. I lunged forward and stabbed him through his exposed left side, right through his ribs. "That was for Chelsea." I said. He fell to the ground dead. I stabbed him again and just to be safe I left the blade in his back. Effectively pinning him to the dirt. I looked around at all the dead elites and wondered why they had fought so hard to protect this cave. Deciding that I didn't want to go In there unarmed I jogged back to where my friends lay dead."listen I have to check out what's in that cave boss." I said to Raymond's body. "I promise as soon as I'm fine in there I'll go join the others." I could feel myself breaking. I laughed dryly turning to Chelsea "Hey you missed it! An elite actually spoke to me." I felt my eyes watering. Something I hadn't felt in a long time. "I'm sorry." I whispered sadly to them both. "I'm so so sorry." I picked up Chel's shotgun and all the shells I could carry, then went back into the cave.

As soon as I walked into the cave I saw that the mouth of the cave was mainly a staging area. Equipment was all over the inside of the cave. I looked around and saw nothing of importance. A small tunnel was on my right. The purple light was glowing brightest from there. I readied my weapon and moved into the tunnel. The tunnel was long but big enough for a few hunters to walk through side by side. The light was getting brighter as I approached the end of the tunnel. It opened up into a large chamber made of metal. When I took a step into the room i found that the floor was metal as well. But what surprised me the most was the source of purple glow. If I didn't know any better I would probably have come up with something more logical. But it looked like a portal. It was in the middle of the room just floating there. Through the portal I saw a group of people. One was a tall blonde haired woman with long hair. She was wearing a white top and a black skirt. There was also a little girl with pink hair. She was holding a little dog and looked very nervous. The last girl also had long hair but looked about my age. She had very long brown hair and was wearing a green skirt with a white top. She was also holding a gun. "Well that's weird." An explosion rocked the cavern and I was about to rush outside when the tunnel started glowing a very bright orange. "Oh shit!" With no other exit I was sure to be barbecued. I sighed and ran for the portal. I jumped right at it and went through.

I immediately felt like I was falling from orbit. But it was like I was flying through a moving tunnel my shields were steadily dropping. I looked behind me a saw that the flames were closing fast. I looked forward again and saw that the exit was close. I went through and landed in a street. I looked back and saw that the portal closed just before the flames could make it through. Well looks like the others blew up refinery. No way am I going back now. I stood up and took in my surroundings. I was in a city but something was wrong. There was destruction everywhere. Abandoned cars littered the street and patches of blood seemed to be all over. Suddenly I heard a scream coming from the houses on my right. I unsheathed my combat knife and jumped over the fence separating the house from the street. I landed and saw no one. I sprinted across the yard and jumped again. This time i saw the same people I had seen earlier but they were being attacked by a group of men. I landed and sprinted to their aid. I threw my knife at the one closest to the little girl. He went down and I moved to the other one and punched him in the face hard. His forehead caved in and he went flying a few feet. I retrieved my blade and turned to the blonde woman "Protect the girl." She pointed past me and yelled "HELP HER!" I turned around and saw the girl with brown hair was pinned on the ground, being choked out by the man on top. As I closed the distance it looked like the man was trying to bite her. I stabbed him in the back of the head and he went limp then I picked him up and the him into the street. That's when I saw more of crazy people trying to get in. The girl on the ground was coughing and crying but I didn't have time to check on her. The blonde woman was moving to the brown haired girl so I moved to the street. I took a closer look at the people attacking and realized that they looked dead! I saw some with chunks of flesh missing from their necks. Others had bite marks all over them. Some were walking with their stomachs ripped open and empty. As if someone had violently removed their organs. I went to work on the crowd with my blade. I slashed a man across his chest but he didn't stop. I tried stabbing him in the heart and all he did was snarl at me. Finally I stabbed him in the temple. He finally went limp. Ok so the head is the weak point. Works for me. With my new speed this fight will be over in seconds. I started to move faster, slashing for their heads wildly but precisely. Suddenly I felt one of those psychos jump on my back "NO!" Someone yelled as my shields dropped a little bit. I grabbed the thing and threw it as hard as I could. IT hit the street head first, rolled a couple times then didn't move again. The stragglers took seconds to dispatch and just like that the fight was over. I had won.

I looked up and down the street. For some reason those things didn't appear on radar. Positive that there were no more coming, at least for now, I turned back to the house to rejoin the people I saved. I saw 3 others standing in the porch of the house. I saw 2 teenage boys and one teen girl. One boy was overweight, wearing glasses and holding a sniper rifle. His hair was down to his shoulders. The other boy was taller and skinnier than the first with spiky black hair. He was holding a shotgun. Both boys were wearing identical clothing. School uniforms maybe? The last girl was wearing the same white top as the girl on the ground but her skirt was had purple hair and held a sword in her hands, her eyes narrowed and focused on me. I saw movement in the house saw another girl wearing glasses. She had long pink hair and looked scared. I took about a few steps and suddenly the purple haired girl was moving. She stopped just outside the gate, as if blocking my way. Shit. They don't trust me. Chelsea always said that the best way to ease tension was to smile. Ok why not. I slowly began to raise my hands to my head. "I'm not a threat." I said calmly. I took off my helmet "My name is Francisco, Spartan 07 beta company but you can call me Sev." I smiled at them then said "I'm here to help." The girl looked shocked. As if she expected me to be something different. I kept my hands up to make them feel more comfortable. The spiky haired boy walked up to the girl and said "Saeko let's give him a chance ok he just saved the others." She hesitated for a second before sheathing get blade and bowing. "Forgive me friend. As you know these are troubling times and we have to be cautious." I nodded and bent down to pick up my helmet. "Completely understandable. As if the covenant wasn't bad enough but now there are dead people walking around trying to kill the living." They all looked confused. "I'm sorry but who is the covenant?" Asked Saeko. Red flag number one. "Excuse me?" I asked. "Um yeah what she said." Spoke the spiky haired boy. "And why do you look like something from the future?" The blonde woman asked. Red flag number two. I looked at them all just as confused. That's when I took another look at my surroundings. The cars looked different. Older. I looked at the buildings and saw no holo boards nor did they go high into the sky like what i normally saw in a big city. Wait did she say from the future. "Um-" suddenly finding it difficult to speak "-what planet are we on?" The blonde tilted her head to the side confused. "Why we're on Earth silly."

I went down on one knee. Looking at the ground. Saeko and the boy ran to my side. "Hey man what's wrong!?" He asked alarmed. I looked at him and asked "What's your name?" Taken aback by my question he said "Takashi Komuro, her name is Saeko Busujima, the little girl is Alice Maresato, the ditzy blonde is Shizuka Marikawa, the girl on the ground is Rei Miyamoto, the guy with the glasses is Kohta Hirano and the other girl with pink hair and glasses is Saya Takagi." I looked at him and nodded. I asked a question that i felt I already knew the answer to. "What...What YEAR is it?" He looked confused before it dawned on him WHY I was asking. "It's...2010."

Aight lil homies let me know y'all think! Until next time!

The Bounty Hunter


	4. Chapter 4

Alright we just gon dive in! Have fun!

Disclaimer I don't own Highschool of the dead nor do I own Halo. Also don't own anything Cheerio™.

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><p>Chapter 3 part 1<p>

Among the living few, things worse than the DEAD

SEV'S POV

"It's...2010." Takashi's words rang in my head as I sat in the backyard, alone, at Hirano's home. "But...It's not possible..."

I muttered to myself. I ripped some grass out of the ground and stared at the dimming sky. I threw the grass and laid down. "Oh of course it's possible man." I sighed. "How do I get back?" I asked the sky quietly. "I have a war to fight." I said.

INSIDE THE HOUSE REI'S POV

I watched Francisco from the window in the kitchen. "He looks...kinda sad." I commented. Saeko walked up behind me and looked at the spartan "Well how would you feel if you found out that you were suddenly blasted back 500 years into the past?" She said. I looked at her as she gazed at him sadly. "He's been through a lot. More than what we've been through, that I guarantee..." She said, a hint of sadness in her voice. I looked back at Francisco "Yeah..you're probably right." I told her. I put my hand on Saeko's back. "C'mon, let's make a great dinner. Maybe good food can help relax us all." I told her. She smiled. "Yes, we'll do just that."

Somehow, Hirano had managed to talk his parents into safely soundproofing a room in the backyard of the home and installing generators that run on natural gas. To everyone's delight they were up and running when he went to check on them. He laughed when he told us that his parents just did it to shut him up.

At the mention of his parents however, Hirano excused himself to his room, tears welling in his eyes. Poor guy doesn't know if his parents are dead or not. Saeko and I were preparing rice with

red beans, grilled chicken and rice balls. We found a large assortment of canned Cheerio™ flavored drinks in the fridge. We both decided that tonight, everyone was eating good. About half an hour later I asked Saeko "So um...how much do you think Francisco eats?" She stopped what she was doing. "I honestly didn't think of that." She put a finger to her chin. "A lot most likely." She laughed before turning to me "Go ask him." She said. I laughed nervously but before I could come up with an excuse NOT to the samurai was already pushing me out of the kitchen saying "On second thought, I'LL finish cooking while YOU go and talk to him. I turned my head to her in shock.

"You want me to what!?" I asked loudly.

"You heard me. He's only spoken to Takashi and I, and briefly at that." She continued "So go and make him feel more welcome to the group." She finished.

Suddenly I was in the backyard, standing on the back porch, thinking of what to say. I heard the door lock behind me and knew that Saeko meant business. "Ok." I whispered to myself "You can totally do this."

"You know I can hear you right?" Said Francisco without looking at me, still gazing at the now night sky.

I facepalmed myself. He's a soldier from the future. OF COURSE he can hear me whispering to myself. I laughed nervously. "Sorry it's just that well Saeko and I are-er I mean we WERE cooking dinner but then it dawned on us that we don't know if you eat a lot so-"

"So you decided to come out here and ask me?" Francisco finished for me. He sat up and looked at me. I stared back at him. I smiled at him "Well maybe this would be a good chance for us to talk or something." I finished. He looked at the ground for a few seconds before looking back up at me while taking off his helmet.

"Yeah...why not. But let's do this at dinner, not that I don't want to talk to you but I'd rather but repeat myself ya know?" He said to me smiling. Wow, his eyes are so blue. And he looks really...YOUNG. "Ok then, that's fine too." I told him. He nodded "Awesome, I'll see you at dinner then." He said. I turned around and tried to enter the house but it was still locked. I knocked lightly and waited. Saya opened the door. "Why was that locked?" She asked me. "Cuz Saeko is mean." I told her as I walked back inside.

SEV'S POV

20 minutes later we were all seated at the table. Everyone looked a little stunned when they saw me without my armor on. They all shot me even more quizzical looks when I asked for the strongest, most sturdy chair in the house. Saeko and Rei served everyone their food and passed around grape flavoured soda. "Wow this food looks great ladies thank you." Said Takashi in between bites. "Yeah you two can really cook."

Rei blushed "Thanks but Saeko did most of the work. I just brought things to her."

Saeko shook her head smiling. "I will have none of that Rei, you were a huge help with the meal." Saeko playfully scolded the brunette. She blushed even deeper before saying thanks.

"Well I for one am glad to have finally bathed. Today was rough." Said Saya.

Hirano swallowed his food before agreeing with her "Yeah it definitely was. I never expected an EMP to go off. Or that we'd have to leave the..." He let his sentence tail off. I raised an eyebrow as I saw everyone stop eating. Even little Zeke stopped begging for scraps from Alice. "Yeah me either." Said Saya quietly.

I cleared my throat. "Um look I know this might not be the best time but can someone please tell me what's going on?" I asked. They all exchanged looks before Takashi nodded and turned to me "Ok then let's fill in some blanks for you Sev. What do you want to know?" I took a swig of my soda. "How about why the dead are attacking the living?" Takashi shook his head before answering.

"Truthfully...we haven't got a clue." He told me. I nodded "Ok then well when did this all start going down?"

Takashi got a far away look I'm his eyes before answering. "I stayed up late the night before everything went to hell..."

For the next hour I listened to the events that had transpired to Takashi and his friends. How Takashi had watched a man get bitten and die in seconds only to reanimate as one of Them. After he bit the principal, the infection grew like wild fire. The death of their friend Hisashi. At this Rei silently shed a few tears but no one noticed. Shortly after that was how they all met, save Takashi,Saya and, Rei whom had all known each other since they were kids, and how they escaped with a man called Koichi Shido. Apparently Shido had sacrificed a student to save his own ass, he's also a filthy perv and responsible for making Rei repeat the school year. I made a mental note to send him to hell if I ever had the displeasure of meeting him. Takashi told me about how he and Rei were separated from the rest of the group. Saeko then told me of how she, Saya, Hirano and, Shizuka left the bus to meet up with their missing friends. Takashi told me of the man at the gas station and how he and Rei came to the rescue of the others at the bridge. Shizuka took up the tale about their stay at her friend Rika's home. They told me about what little they saw on t.v. before the news went off the air. Then about how they saw little Alice and her father. To everyone's surprise it was Alice who took the story over. Starting from when everything went to hell.

"I was at school too when everything started happening." Alice said. "My papa came and got me early, we were going to pick up my mom from her work and celebrate her birthday." Alice said smiling. "But then all the monsters started coming out and attacking people and we couldn't get to her. Papa said that she was ok and was going to meet us later. But I don't remember him talking to my mom at all." She said confused. "So we started wandering around town, hiding from the monsters and looking for help." She got really sad when she spoke of the street where her life changed again. "I was really scared walking down the street with my dad. But papa told me to be brave no matter what." She stated boldly, her eyes watering. Then she told of her father's fate. That was when the dam of emotions broke. "I didn't even get to tell him how much I love him!" She sobbed. I was up and at her side in a flash holding her tightly. "I'm absolutely positive he knew exactly how much you loved him." I told her.

She calmed down a little bit but was still crying. "He sounded like an amazing man Alice. And a great dad." I said. She looked at me still trying to get herself under control. I bit my lip before continuing "My dad told me to be brave just like yours did." I said. "He was a soldier like me. He used to tell me that soldiers don't cry. But if they do that's ok. It shows you aren't afraid to show people how much you care about something." I took a breath before continuing

"So we have to be brave for em. ok?" I finished. She smiled and just like that,was back to being Alice. "Ok! Soldiers don't cry! But crying is still ok because it shows you care!" I grinned "Exactly." I told her. Hirano took the story up from there. Talking about how Takashi had gone in to save her and Zeke while he covered from above. Then about how they all had to go save and save Takashi, Alice and, Zeke. Then about the epic battle on the highway. Hirano spoke of when Takashi and Saeko bravely tried to lure all of Them away. Even though it didn't work Saya's mom came to the rescue last second and saved almost everyone. Saya told me how they waited for Takashi and Saeko to arrive. Then they told me off their stay at the Takagi's compound, and how the snake Shido tried to get his group into the mansion. I was a little disappointed when I heard that Rei didn't kill him. Then about the escape from the mansion, the return of the gas station thug known as Shinji and my appearance. "That's everything up until now Sev." Takashi finished as Shizuka carried Alice to bed. "Damn..." I said to him. Truthfully I was speechless. These kids had been through so much and it hasn't even been two weeks yet!

"That's one crazy story man no doubt." I said. Shizuka had come back by now and started clearing the table. We all got up to help her and soon we were in the kitchen. Saya washed the dishes while Hirano dried them off. They all stared at me, waiting for my story. I sighed, they told me what's happened. It's only fair I tell them what I've gone through.

"Ok what do you want to know?" I asked.

REI'S POV

"How about how you ended up in the past Sev?" I asked. He looked at me and said "I dove into a portal to avoid being burned alive." He answered casually. "What?" We all said at one. " He laughed dryly. "Is anyone sleepy?" Francisco asked us. We all said no. "Good cause my story is a little longer than yours."

He took a deep breath then started

"In 2291 two men named Tobias Shaw and Wallace Fujikawa successfully developed a slip space engine. This is able to generate small worm holes that ships can pass through. Humanity was able to colonize other planets far away from earth." He paused, Hirano had his hand up. "Go ahead Hirano." Sev said. "How does the engine do all that?" The boy asked. Sev scratched the back of his head "Sorry man, THAT I don't know." He responded. Hirano chuckled "Just thought I'd ask. Please continue." "Anyway like I said for next few hundred years humanity colonized planets far away from earth. For a while life was good, humanity as a whole was prospering. But with so many planets to govern the UNSC was faced with colonies that wanted to separate from earths government. This lead to many bloody battles over the next few years. The group leading the charge were insurgents. We almost had the innies beat..." Sev's face took on a very grim look "Then in 2525, humanity found out that we weren't alone in the universe."

I sat there wide eyed as Francisco told us about the terror known as the covenant. He told us about the different species, how they could send out thousands upon thousands of grunts. The sharp shooter/shield users called jackals. The tall blue armored hunters, capable of killing dozens of people in mere seconds and how it could take several squads of marines just to kill one hunter. Ape like aliens called brutes, capable of taking a lot of bullets before finally going down. And how ferocious they were in packs. Finally he spoke of the backbone and the best soldiers the covenant had to offer. The elites. How they stand at least 8ft tall and are the smartest in the covenant. Not only that but they were also strong like brutes, fast like jackals and, merciless like hunters. "One elite alone can take on a whole squad of marines. Not only that but the elites have full body energy shields. They are also able to use human weapons efficiently, showing how adaptable they are in the field." Sev told us. "But what makes them the worst, in my opinion, is their weapon of choice. The energy sword." Sadness flashed in his eyes, but only for a split second. Before he could continue however Saya said "Well YOU obviously aren't a regular marine. The armor gives that away instantly." She stated. Sev chuckled before answering "Bingo kid you're a genius." She smirked "I know but are you like special forces or what?" Saya asked.

He hesitated before speaking "Yeah you could say that."

SEV'S POV

"I'm a Spartan. A Spartan 3 to be exact." I told them. "There are also Spartan 2s. Those guys make me look like a regular soldier. Unfortunately there's only about 30 of those guys left. That's one of the reasons why the Spartan 3 program began." The sparring sessions I had with Kelly flashed through my mind. "We were trained very young and given special...augmentations." I paused unsure how to further explain this. "Um...how old are you Francisco?" Asked Rei hesitantly.

Damn. Well I'm stuck here for now. It wouldn't hurt to tell them that. I hesitated and readied myself for the incoming barrage of questions "I'm...I just turned 17 last month." I answered. Everyone's jaw dropped. For a few seconds they all just stared at me. "But...how...what..." Takashi said dumbfounded "Bullshit." Said Saya "How young were you when you joined?" Asked Hirano. "How the hell are your parents ok with this?" Demand Rei. I looked at the ground. "Look...how I became a Spartan isn't something I'm ready to talk about yet. Forgive me." Shizuka put a hand on my shoulder "Oh don't worry about it. You can tell that story another time when you're ready and if you want too ok." I nodded. Rei chimed in "Yeah it's no problem really." "Well I wanna know." Grumbled Saya. Rei glared at her "He will tell us if he wants too Saya." She said sternly. Saya held up her hands in mock defeat "Ok, ok I got it." Rei nodded her head "Good glad to hear that." I smiled. Why is she being so nice to me? I thought to myself. Not that I mind. "Anyways I ended up as a Spartan. I trained for years with 2 friends of mine..." I let my sentence trail off. No I'm not ready to talk about them either.

"My friends and I along with another 297 Spartan threes were deployed on a mission called OPERATION: TORPEDO."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 3, part 2

A few hours later I was settled on the couch in the family room. Hiranos home had 3 bedrooms one of which was a guest room with 3 beds in it. Alice and Shizuka slept in the master room. Rei, Saya and, Saeko slept in the guest room with Hirano in his own room. That left Takashi and I in the living room. Hirano had a spare futon which Takashi was currently fast asleep on. I was tired but not exhausted. I had many things going through my mind. The death of my friends for starters. We had been holding the covenant off for about 20 minutes. The other 5 Spartans all died when fighting started after we landed. We were doing pretty well all things considered. I turned around just in time to watch them die. All I heard was Chelsea yell my name and then it was over. I opened my eyes and sighed. Everything happened pretty fast after that. Now here I am, trapped in the past. How cliche. What I've learned so far is that this group went to high school together. The day it all went down they all escaped together and have fought hard to keep it that way. They found and saved Alice and Zeke by a stroke of luck. They also think of Takashi as the leader, which is fine by me. Raymond was the who gave the orders while Chelsea and I followed them. I sighed. Resigned to the fact that there's probably no way back.

I heard a door open softly and on instinct reached for my M45 shotgun and looked at the front door suspecting hostels but saw none. I looked around and saw Rei as she silently moved to the backdoor. She went through it and shut the door silently behind her. I looked to Takashi but he was still out cold. I looked back at the door and contemplated going to her. It sounded like she might've been crying. I laid back down and thought for a minute. "Yeah...why not." I got up and walked to the door. I stopped when I got to the door. When I cried as a kid my mom used to give me something sweet to help calm me down. I went to fridge and pulled 2 strawberry sodas. I realized that I was only wearing shorts. It's the middle if the night so screw it. I walked back to the door and opened it. I stepped outside and saw Rei. She was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest, sniffling quietly. "Rei." I said quietly. She jumped a little and quickly started to wipe her face clean of tears before turning around. "Oh it's you Sev." She looked a little nervous and asked "What are you doing up so late? You should be sleeping." I walked up to her and said "I saw you get up and go outside...I also thought you were crying so i figured..." This is stupid. She wants to be alone, hell she doesn't even KNOW me. Why would she be ok with talking to me? She looked at me for a few seconds and then gave me a small, sad smile "Ok sure. I could use the company." She said as she patted the grass next to her. I sat down and held up a can of soda. She thanked me and took one. She tried to open it but she was still crying quietly. I opened the can i was holding and handed it to her, taking the closed one from her hands. She took a long drink from the can. "Thanks...my dad used to give me strawberry candy to calm me down when I would cry as a kid." She said, looking at the moon. "My mom used to give me anything sweet to calm me down." I told her. "I miss her so much." I said to Rei. "I miss my mom too. Hell I don't even know if either of parents are alive." She said. "I hope they are..." She finished. I put a hand on her back. "Hey I'm sure that they're just fine. Besides if YOU turned out a survivor I'm sure that your parents are just as tough." I said reassuringly. "Why don't you tell me about them? You up for that?" I asked her.

"Yeah. My moms name is Kiriko. She used to be a cop but left the force when she met my dad. His name is Tadashi. He's still a cop." She took another drink from her soda. "My mom is more of a tough love kind of woman. She never hesitates to say what's on her mind." She giggled. "One time she told one of my elementary school teachers to 'fuck off and not tell her how to live." I chuckled quietly. "Why did she do that?" I asked. She shook her head smiling "To this day I don't know why. My dad had to go In and apologize for my mother. Neither one of them will tell what happened but I think it's hilarious." She finished. By now she wasn't crying anymore. She leaned her head on my shoulders. "My dad is like a teddy bear/grizzly bear combo. He'll treat you with respect and kindness no matter who you are. He tells the best jokes too. His laugh always makes everyone feel so relaxed. He can just look at you grinning and you'll bust a gut laughing." She smiled warmly thinking about her father. I quickly caught myself staring. "Oh but when he's angry you'd better look out. My mom told me a story once about my dad fighting 3 guys at once before he was a cop. Apparently they were harassing some kid, pushing him around, taking his stuff that sort of thing." I took another drink of my soda. "My dad finally got sick of it and told the guys to leave the kid alone. When the cops showed up all 4 of them, my dad included were bloody and on the floor. The only one still conscious was my dad.

The whole way to the station my dad was smiling, happy that he helped out that kid. After that my dad knew what he wanted to do in life. So he became a cop. That's how he met my mom and the rest is history." She finished. I gulped down the rest of my soda. "Wow, what a story." I said. "Ok now you tell me about your parents." Said Rei. I tensed up. It's been 11 years and I STILL can't talk about my parents. Hell I even think about my sister without getting misty eyed. Rei looked at me. "What's the matter?" She asked concerned. "Shit did I say something wrong?" She said me. I shook my head "No of course not." I replied quickly.

"It's just...tonight was the first time in 11 years that I've even mentioned my parents. I haven't talked about my them since...well since they..." For some reason I couldn't bring myself to say it. Rei took my hand. "Look if you'd rather not that's fine. Honestly you just helped me out." She said. "Did they...die in the war?" She asked gently. "Yes...right in front of me." I said. She squeezed my hand reassuringly and said "I can't imagine what that must of been like. I'm sorry." I looked at her and she gazed back. For a while we just looked at each other in comfortable silence. I thought Rei was beautiful before but in the moonlight she looked like a goddess. She broke eye contact and looked at my body. She ran a finger along one of the many scars on my chest. She looked back up at me blushing lightly. We started leaning towards each other when suddenly an explosion rang out about a mile and a half south of us. We both jumped up and looked at the rising plume of smoke coming from an orange glow. "Rei get the others. We'll meet in living room ok." Her grip on my hand tightened. "What about you?" She asked. "I've got to suit up, I'll be inside in a minute." I told her. Still she didn't move, I turned to her "Go Rei. Now." She let go of my hand and ran inside.

REI'S POV

I burst through the door and ran into living room. The light was on and Takashi was awake. "What the hell was that?" He asked me. Saeko, Saya and Hirano ran into the living room. "Did you guys hear that?" Said Hirano. "Was that an explosion?" Asked Saeko. "Yeah and it sounded close." Finished Saya. Takashi nodded in agreement. "I'm going check on Shizuka, Alice and, Zeke." Said Hirano. As he walked out the room, Sev walked in from the backyard in his armor. "Takashi how do you want to play this?" He asked calmly. Takashi thought for a second before answering "I want to go check it out. I'd rather know now if it's a serious threat or not. But it sounds like the explosion site might be too far for us to go check. Plus night time is NOT the time to go out." Sev nodded "If I may I'd rather go for you Takashi. Those things can't bite through my armor and I can be in out quickly." "No way!" I said. Everyone turned to look at me. "Going alone is dangerous, besides you don't know the area. What if you can't find your back?"

Francisco started typing something into a the glowing red pad on his wrist. "Look I won't get lost. I can set this exact location as a rendezvous point." He then reached into a case on his left leg and pulled out 3 small devices that looked like the small Bluetooth headsets you put on one ear. He handed one to Takashi, one to me, and the last one he gave to Saya. "These are long range communicators that a Spartan can use if we lose our helmets in the field. They don't need satellites so they should work here, and are fully charged. Just put it on your left ear and push the power button." He pulled out a cord and handed it to me. "This is the charger for them. Don't lose it." I looked up at him and sighed "Fine, but please be careful. We need you." Takashi, Saya and, Saeko all exchanged a questioning look, but didn't say anything. Takashi then told him how to do this "In and out ok. Then come back here safe and sound." Takashi told him. "In and out, safe and sound. Roger." Sev repeated. He then put his shotgun in his back, unsheathed his blade and walked through the backdoor. We followed him to the yard and watched him. Halfway across the yard he stopped. "If I see those men you all saw today...I'll eliminate them." We all tensed up. Then Takashi told him "Make that Shinji guy suffer, like he made that girl suffer." Sev said nothing. He ran and jumped over the fence and like that he was gone.

I turned to Takashi but he was already walking into the house. Saeko, Saya and, I all looked at each other, then to Takashi. "Make him suffer..." Saya said quietly. "He's losing it." I said. Saeko sighed before speaking "He took the death of that woman very hard. He probably feels that there was something he could have done." She's right. He blames himself. Another explosion rang out. We all turned around and saw that this time it came from a building. Mine and Saya's comm came to life. "Did you guys see that?" Said Francisco. "No we only heard it?" Said Takashi walking back outside. Hirano was right behind him. "Well it looks like somebody just fired a rocket at something. I'm almost at the site." Saya turned to Hirano "He says he saw somebody fire a rocket. Any ideas otaku?" He nodded "There are...Well there used to be a triad group that lived in that area. They never came over here but they had connections to the Yakuza. Maybe someone found their stash of RPGS?" Saya gave him a thumbs up and spoke to Sev "It looks like you're heading into a neighborhood that was run by some big time gangs. If any of em are still alive you might have to fight those guys." She told the Spartan. "Rog' I'm going dark, Sev out." "I'm going to see if I can spot anything from the roof of the house." Said Hirano. Shizuka and Alice came out of the house. "What's going on?" Asked the blonde. "Where's Francisco onee-chan?" Asked Alice. As Saeko filed them in on the situation Takashi followed Hirano up to the roof while the rest of us stayed in the yard. "Contact." Said Sev. "He's with that bitch!" They heard an unknown voice yell. "Kill him!" Yelled another. "Engaging hostels." Sev said calmly. Gun fire erupted from that area. I heard screams over the comm along with more gun fire. "Oh shit!" Yelled Sev, then another explosion flashed in the night. Then nothing. "Sev?" Takashi said with a shaky voice. No response. "Francisco?" My voice was cracking. "Please don't be dead..." For a minute there was nothing but silence. They heard another gunshot. Sev lightly chuckled "Damn guys no faith in the super soldier. I'm hurt." Everyone with comms breathed a sigh of relief. "Ass hole. You actually had us worried." Saya scolded him. "Eh I've been through worse. The guys who were doing this were trying to kill a woman. Honestly she didn't need my help since she was winning but she says she's a cop." More silence then Sev spoke "Shizuka Marikawa!? I know where she is!" Sev exclaimed. "Who is it Sev?" Asked Takashi. "Wait seriously? Did you lose it?" Sev asked the woman. Lose what? "Guys we're on our way back. Tell Shizuka that I have Rika with me. OH SHIT LOOK OUT!" Sev yelled. Saya looked alarmed "Sev what's happening!?" She asked. That's when they heard it. A loud, monstrous roar pierced the air followed by more gunshots.

SEV'S POV INSIDE A 3 STORY OFFICE BUILDING

"Rika through that door hurry!" I yelled. She burst through the door and was in a stairwell, an exit door led out the building. "Up or straight!?" I turned around and saw the thing pick up a small car. "UP! NOW!" I yelled and sprinted for the door. The monster roared again and threw the car at us. I grabbed Rika by her waist and triple timed it up the stairs. "Sev, what the fuck was that!?" Yelled Takashi into my comm. "Fuck if i know! I'll call back Takashi!" I heard the car crash through the windows and bust through the wall at the bottom of the stairs, shaking the whole building. I kept running with Rika in my arms. She couldn't fire her weapon accurately at the speed I was going so she just held on tight. I ran until I reached the last door I put Rika down and kicked the door in. There was about 5 of Them on the roof, they looked looked they died of dehydration. Rika and I made quick work of em. We ran across the roof and saw no way down or off the roof at all. "Fuck we're trapped!" Said Rika. "No I can jump down from here." I said. She looked at me like I was crazy. "Hell no you can't! You'd break both legs!" Before I could tell her anything the entrance to the stairwell exploded behind us. We turned around, weapons at ready. I finally got a good look at the creature and i wish i hadn't. It had huge arms, the muscles on its arm were grotesque to say the least because you could see ruptured veins. Its giant hands were bloody and about the size of my chest. Its head was relatively small however making it a hard target. Its legs too were made of more nasty looking muscles and veins, the monsters feet were barely visible. It looked like other survivors tried to make a stand against it because it was covered with bullet holes and giant cuts. "Fuck me." I groaned. Rika chuckled and said "If we make it out of this. But for now let's kill this thing." I looked at her "SERIOUSLY!?" I yelled. Of all the times for her to say ridiculous shit, she couldn't have picked a worse time. The monster roared and charged.

"Cover me!" I yelled as I charged the beast, my shotgun blasting. "Moving to position!" Yelled Rika behind me. The monster continued charging me, shrugging off the shells like they were nothing. It lunged at me, one giant arm cocked back, ready to punch me back to the future. I rolled grifball style just as it threw its massive punch. I popped up at jumped straight up. The monster grabbed my legs midair and slammed me into the concrete roof. It hurt like hell and my shields dropped by a quarter. He raised me up again but this time I put my shotgun right in his face and fired. Blood splattered all over my visor but he dropped me. My visor auto wiped the blood like it does when it rains as I yelled "Yeah! What'd that taste like!?" I rolled away from it just as my visor finished cleaning itself and looked at the beast.

"Damn." Was all i could say. It still wasn't dead, "What does it take!?" Rika said angrily. She started firing her H&K PSG1 at the thing. Her rounds tore through its upper back and non existent neck area. I started firing my shotgun again and flanked it on its left side. Blinded now, the beast just swung wildly, hoping to get a lucky shot. It looked like we might have been actually doing some damage. I started to reload but the monster rushed me. I tried rolling out of way but again it swung at me wildly and struck true. This time my shields dropped to half power and i flew to the edge of the roof, I was closer to Rika now but far on her left."NO!" Rika screamed and started firing at the monsters face, each shot finding its mark. The monster roared again and started charging at Rika. She kept firing and the monster was losing speed but it still wouldn't stop. I realized that at the speed the beast was moving, he would run right off the roof, taking Rika with him. Instinct took over and I got up ran as fast as I could. This time however I planned to use all the speed my new armor could give me. As I ran I stamped in tiny craters into the roof, pushing myself as hard as I was able to.

A jolt of pain flared up my left leg but I couldn't stop or else it was over. Rika had switched to her side arm and was still firing. I reached Rika, grabbed her and tossed her as lightly as i could in the direction I had come in from. The monster slammed into me and we flew off the roof. For a few seconds we were weightless. The monster roared as i took out my blade and stabbed him in the top of its head. It finally went limp. I kicked off of it just before we hit the ground. My shields completely dropped when I hit the street. I slammed into the pavement hard but still conscious. The beast hit the street and rolled right into the fire from the first RPG that the men from earlier shot at Rika. It laid in the fire. Burning and finally dead. My shields finally began to recharge as i laid there.

My breaths were fast like I had just run 50 miles without stopping. I heard footsteps and looked up seeing Rika rushing to my aid. "Don't be dead, don't be dead, don't be dead." She repeated over and over again. She slid next to me and removed my helmet. I looked up at her and smiled weakly. "What took you so long?" I asked. She smiled at me and replied "How do you feel champ?" I groaned as i sat up. "Like a million credits." I said. She raised an eyebrow "Huh?" Before I could explain I heard moaning all around us. I looked around and saw undead coming in from all directions. "Stay quiet. They can't hear us." She whispered. I nodded and put my helmet back on. Rika handed me my shotgun and I got up slowly. My leg still hurt but it felt more like I dislocated something, not like anything was broken. With no way of getting past the incoming hordes. I taped her on the shoulder and pointed at the building again. She nodded and we both moved as quietly as able. Again we found ourselves at the stairway. The car was completely in the way of the exit however. We climbed the stairs and were on the roof again. "Don't tell me the plan is to jump into the alley from up here." Rika said. "Hell you've been limping since you flew off roof." She added. "Eh no choice." I said as I grabbed her and picked her up bridal style. "No. Fucking. Way." She told me angrily while staring daggers into my visor. "You'll thank me when i get you to Shizuka. Now keep quiet or they'll hear you." I jumped into the alley.

REI'S POV BACK AT THE HOUSE

"Try again Takashi." Asked Shizuka anxiously. He cleared his throat. "Sev, you there man?" For a few seconds we again were met with silence but then we heard him. "Yeah I'm here. I've got Rika with me. We're heading back now." Takashi, Saya and, I all smiled. "He's ok Shizuka, and he's got Rika with him. She's fine too." I said to the nurse. She smiled and started crying tears of joy. All she could do was nod. "Hey don't lie to them! Tell them you got hurt saving me." Said a woman. "Are you ok?" I asked him. "See now she heard you!" Sev scolded. "Don't worry about me Rei I'm good. I'll fill you guys in when we get back. Sev out." I sighed. "Its been a long day..." I finally said, taking off the ear piece. "Yes. It definitely has been." Said Saeko. For about half an hour we waited in the backyard for Sev and Rika. No one said a thing. Saeko and Takashi were holding hands, looking towards the direction that the Spartan would come in from. Nobody noticed this but me. Suddenly we saw a flash of red as Spartan jumped the fence with somebody in arms. They landed and Sev put her down. "RIKA!" Yelled Shizuka as she rushed the woman. She tackled her and they both went down. Shizuka had her pinned to the ground, laughing and hugging her tightly. Rika couldn't laugh. She just hugged her tightly as she could and cried quietly, as if waking from some terrible nightmare. I smiled at the reunion, happy that Shizuka had finally been reunited with her best friend. Shizuka then said to Sev "Thank you! I'll never able to tell you that enough Francisco! Thank you!" We all turned to him. "Hey...no...problem..." Then he passed out.

Wow I loved writing this chapter!

Guys please tell me what y'all thought about me throwing in a Boss type. The idea suddenly came to me while i was playing left 4 dead. Anyways you guys rule. More chapters to come sure.

The Bounty Hunter

P.s. for some reason it wouldn't let me copy the whole chapter which is why I had to split it up


	6. Chapter 6

Alright times up! Let's moo dis! Shout out too spellchecker 11111 and elite ducky for reviewing my story and helping me out when I asked them.

Disclaimer I don't own Highschool of the dead nor do I own Halo.

Chapter 4

Memories of the past, reality with the DEAD

SEV'S POV

I groaned as I struggled to get up.

"That's 3 wins 8 losses Sev." Said Chelsea as she rolled her eyes.

"Ugh what'll it take for the both of you to stop." Chuckled Fred. I sat up and grinned at them. "Are you serious!? I'm wearing her down!" Kelly smiled as she walked over to me. She held her hand out and I took it. "Maybe next time kid." Kelly said as she helped me to my feet. "C'mon sis one more round! I'm fellin lucky!" I begged, hitting her with the puppy dog eyes. She tried to glare at me but after a few seconds she laughed. "Alright, but after I win let's get some chow." I nodded and we walked back onto the mats. We took up our stances. "Sev wake up." Said Kelly.

I looked at her confused. "What?" I said. "Wake up." She said again but this time she sounded different. "Wake up Sev." Kellys new voice said more urgently. Why does she sound so familiar. She rushed me "WAKE UP."

My eyes shot open and I took in my surroundings. Rei was on my left looking down at me, worry etched on her gorgeous face. Shizuka had the back of her hand on my forehead, checking for a fever. "What happened?" I asked. "You passed out after you got back with Rika. You've been out for about 5 minutes." Said Shizuka. I sat up and slowly stood. I tried walking but as soon as I put some weight on my left ankle pain flared in it. I looked at Shizuka "My left ankle is dislocated. Can you reset it?" I asked her. She nodded and said "First we need you out of your armor." I nodded and pulled up my armor settings on my UGPS TACPAD. I selected the retract option. "Stand back." I told Shizuka. I took off my helmet and then it started.

REI'S POV

Our jaws all dropped as we watched Sevs armor split open, as if he was emerging from a shell. The armor split open just enough for him to climb out of it. He was wearing some sort of black suit under the regular suit. It clung to his whole body like a second skin. But then it looked like it was made of water and slowly melted off and away from him being absorbed into the armor. Then he was in his black shorts again. He stepped away from the suit and limped over to the arm with the weird pad on its wrist. He typed in a few more commands and suddenly the suit started folding in on itself rapidly, making funny clicking noises the whole time. When it fished it had turned itself into a cube the size of a medium-sized safe, If it was hollow I could easily sit in the middle. The pad that was on Franciscos arm was now on the top of the cube. Francisco walked over to it and typed in another command. The middle of the cube opened and he put his helmet in. It closed again and a low hum began to emit from the red cube. "That was so cool." Said Hirano stunned. "I want to be a Spartan." Said Takashi. Sev grinned "Yeah its got its ups and downs." He said. Alice ran up to Sev and hugged his good leg. "Please don't leave again." She told him. "When my big brother Takashi and my big sister Saeko were gone I thought I'd never see them again. And when I woke up and you were gone I thought you weren't going to come back." She said teary eyed. The Spartan scooped her up and hugged her tightly. He whispered something in her ear. "Promise?" She asked seriously. "Cross my heart kid." He replied grinning. He turned to Shizuka and said they should reset his ankle now. "Lay down." She instructed.

After she reset his ankle we all decided that it was bedtime. Alice slept with Saya. We all decided that Rika and Shizuka should get a night alone after witnessing a very passionate kiss when Shizuka finished helping Sev. Saeko was fast asleep on her bed. Hirano was in his room and Takashi In the living room. Sev on the other hand was munching away in the kitchen. I suggested to Takashi that we should go out and search for more food soon and he agreed stating that since Sev is part of the group now we should try hard to keep it that way. Sev. The mystery soldier who saved my life. He kept popping into my head ever since he showed up. At first he was kinda scary and the armor didn't help. But when he took off his helmet I started to trust him. He sounds American but his brown skin makes him look Hispanic. His blue eyes are what captivate me the most. When I was talking to him in the backyard his eyes were a cool ice blue. But when the first explosion rang out and he told me to get the others his eyes turned into a more electric blue color. The events prior to the explosion ran through my mind again. How he listened to me and offered words of encouragement to me about my parents. When I held his hand he didn't pull away. Then he talked about his parents. Being killed right in front of him was just cruel and wrong. How could the covenant be so cruel as to kill a child's parents In front of him. They were probably going to kill him too, but somehow he got away. Maybe that has something to do with him becoming a Spartan. As I drifted off to sleep I kept replaying in my mind when I almost kissed him. I have to figure myself out.

With the way the world is now I could die tomorrow.

I woke up the next morning and looked around the room. Saeko was gone, probably taking a shower. Saya and Alice were still asleep so I decided to wake them a little later. I got up and found a towel in the closet. As i stepped out into the hall I smelled something delicious coming from the kitchen. I also heard something I thought I'd never hear again. Music. It sounded like American rock. Eh I can vibe with that so long as it isn't that crazy non stop screaming stuff. That freaked me out before the world went to hell. 97% sure it won't be any better now. I walked into the kitchen and saw Saeko and Sev cooking a lot of food. Sev was finishing a joke "-so that's when I told him, hey man if you want to get that close you'll have to but me dinner first!" He said laughing. Takashi and Hirano exploded with laughter. Saeko laughed so hard she cried. "Glad to see everyone is in a good mood this morning." I said as everyone calmed down. Sev turned around. "Oh hey Rei! How are you this gorgeous morning?" I looked out the kitchen window and saw that it was raining. "Um you know it looks like shit outside right?" I questioned. He shook his head "No this is good! It'll make looking for food and clothes easier. With those crazy marauder bastards running around we have to secure supplies before they do. Under the cover of rain we should be good and fly under the radar." He finished. "Hmmm...yeah you're right Sev. Good plan." I said. He shook his head again. "Not my idea, thank Takashi." He said nodding to him. He raised his glass of water in thanks. I smiled "Well then good job Takashi." I told him. Takashi scratched the back of his head "Well if I'm being totally honest, Sev is the one that said the rain can provide good cover. I just brought up that we need food and clothes." He said. "Ok that's a little more believable." I said grinning. "Look I'm going to shower, when the food is ready we'll discuss what happened last night and what the plan is for today." I told them. "You better hurry then Rei or I'll eat all the food." Said Sev. Hirano and Saeko chuckled. "Wait where's Saya and Alice?" Asked Hirano. "Still asleep. If you want, you can go wake them before the food is ready." I told him. He nodded and went to go wake them. I took my leave and went to the bathroom. As I passed the room with Shizuka and Rika I heard low moans coming from the room. Red faced I picked up the pace and jumped into the shower.

20 minutes later we were all seated around the table. Sev and Saeko passed around the food and everyone dug in. Rika chuckled as she watched Sev gorge. "Damn man Shizuka wasn't kidding when she told me about the whole 'super soldier from the future thing' I just thought she was hamming it up." She said. Sev only grunted and continued to stuff his face. Rika smiled and shook her head. "Well since we're all here. What's the plan Takashi?" Takashi took a drink from his juice and cleared his throat. "Well first we should take stock of what we have here. Then we hit the food stores closest to us and take what we can since we don't know how long we'll be here." He told us. "Hirano how are we on guns and ammo?" He asked. "We have 30 12-gauge shells for the Ithaca M37, 40 7.62 rounds for the M1A1, 34 7.62x51 rounds for the AR-10, 31 9mm rounds for the luger, and a total of 6 .38 special rounds for the M.37 Airweight." Hirano stated. He turned to Sev and Rika and asked them about their weapons.

Sev spoke first "Do they make 8-gauge rounds here in Japan?" He asked He shrugged his shoulders that he didn't know, but Rika nodded her head. "They do but for military use only. Best bet of finding more would be at a military base or outpost." She told him. He nodded "Well after last night I have 12 spare shells and 6 more in my M45 shotgun, plus my combat knife." He told the group. Rika then said "I have another 50 7.62x51 rounds for the AR-10 since my PSG1 uses the same ammo. I also have a Sig Sauer p226 handgun with 15 spare rounds." She told them. She looked at Sev and they exchanged a look. When they came back last night they still didn't talk about what had happened and also what they had seen. "Ok and...what do we do about the group of killers running with that Shinji guy?" Asked Takashi. Saya spoke up "Well first we should find out where they operate from. Then avoid that area as much as possible." She said. Saeko nodded "I agree with Saya. They outnumber us and are extremely dangerous, if anything we should always try to avoid a fight with them." The samurai said calmly. "I agree too, avoiding them is definitely smart." I said. Hirano was silent. Sev studied him then said "I feel the same way man but with Alice with us that plan could put her in even more danger." He told him. Hirano looked a little shocked but finally nodded. What plan? What was Hirano thinking. "Yeah you're right man." Takashi then spoke up "As much as I'd like to take fight to them, avoiding them is much safer for all of us." He concluded. "How are we on medical supplies Shizuka?" Takashi asked her. The blonde woman said that for now they were ok but more pain pills and antibiotics wouldn't hurt. "Ok then now who goes and who stays? I'll be going with the away group. Raise your hand if you want to volunteer." Said Takashi. Sev and Hirano both raised their hands immediately. They looked at other and grinned. "What about your ankle Spartan?" Hirano asked him. "What about it?" Sev shot back grinning still. Takashi just nodded. "Alright then. Everyone else will stay here and protect the house. Shizuka make a list of what supplies you need, Saya see if you can find any pharmacies or clinics in the area. Also circle mechanic shops or car dealership close to us with this city map. I want to repair the humvee if presented with the chance. We might still need it. Saeko, Rei and, Alice you three can start checking our food supply." Everyone nodded.

Takashi then turned to Sev and Rika. "Ok. Now tell us what the hell happened last night." He said. Sev and Rika looked at each other. "Well...we fought one of Them but...this one was different." Rika said. Saya leaned forward. "Different how?" She asked. "Different as in it was, quite literally, a 10ft tall, super buff, bullet sponge capable of throwing cars around. The damn thing even picked ME up and tossed me around like a rag doll and in my armor I weigh almost 800 pounds." Sev said. I'm pretty sure I turned whiter than the snow on Mt. Fuji. Everyone was silent, jaws dropped except Saya. "I...I was hoping that there wouldn't be any different variants but...I guess I was...wrong." Sev looked at her. "You figured that we'd fight other types?" She nodded and swallowed before speaking. "Do you think...?" She asked. Sev nodded. I was now thoroughly confused and terrified. "Does he think WHAT?" I asked, my voice shaky. Saya and Sev exchanged a strange look, as if they were talking with only their eyes. Saya grew even paler before she spoke. "I think that...the dead aren't just coming back to life for no reason. Somebody CAUSED all of this to happen." She said. Sev nodded. Takashi was very quite and looked very mad. Hirano excused himself to go throw up. "How can you both be so sure?" Saeko asked. Sev spoke next. "We still need to find more proof but..." He looked at Saya grimly. "We're sure." He finished. Rika cleared her throat. "In the end, Sev and I brought the beast down. But just barely."

"How?" Takashi asked. "A lot of bullets and my blade in the top of its skull." Sev said. "This fucking thing took headshots and STILL refused to die. When I stabbed it in the top of its head it finally went down." He finished. "For now we have to assume that, if we see another one, the top of the skull is the only weak spot." Saya said. We all nodded. Takashi got up. "Sev, Hirano, we leave in 30."

SEV'S POV

30 minutes later we all met up at the front door. Takashi was in his usual school uniform but had a black hoodie on as well. Hirano had changed into a grey long sleeved shirt, cargo pants and, steel toe boots. He also had a black windbreaker with a hood, BLACKWATER was stamped on the back of the it. I gave Hirano, Takashi, and Rika each a comm. "Ok Rika, you're our eyes and ears here. Hold down fort while we're away." Takashi said. She nodded and smiled "Count on it." Hirano told her about a secret room on the roof. "It'll provide perfect cover for you and you'll be able to see in any direction. Plus you won't get soaked in the rain." He said. She winked at him and said "I'll try my best to not get wet while you're gone big man. Make sure everyone comes home safe." Shizuka and I facepalmed. Rei, Saeko and, Takashi tried to not bust a gut holding in their laughter. Saya looked a little upset by that comment. Alice asked Saeko what she meant by that. Hirano stood a little taller, his face cheery red "YES MA'AM." He said loudly in a very manly voice.

I cleared my throat "Ok look I have 3 more spare comms but I'm going keep them with me. Better safe than sorry. If you need to get a hold of us, go up to roof and talk to Rika." The teens nodded. Rei turned me and said "Be careful ok. You still owe me." She said. I nodded "What kind of man would I be if i didn't deliver?" I asked. Saeko and Takashi were whispering to themselves. Saya turned to Hirano and said quietly "Come back alive...Kohta." That's first time she's called him by name since I showed up. She always calls him otaku. He looked a little shocked before smiling widely. "I promised your parents I'd take care of you. I keep my promises." He said to her. Holy shit he's smooth. Saya looked at him with newfound respect and something else, her eyes flashed and she quickly started taking about hire busy she was and briskly waked away. With our goodbyes said I turned to Takashi. I pumped my shotgun and said "Ok boss man. On your go." He nodded then walked through the door. Hirano and I close behind him. Rika called out "Call sign?" She asked. Takashi asked Hirano what that meant. While Hirano explained I turned around said there was no need. She nodded and we walked into the street.

We walked quietly but quickly. Staying as close to the building as possible. I took point after leaving Hiranos. He understood my hand signs perfectly but Takashi was going to need work. According to Hirano the humvee wasn't too far away now. We didn't see any undead on the way there. "This is weird." Takashi whispered. "Yeah I know it's like they've all just vanished." Responded Hirano. I shrugged "Fuck it. Makes our job easier." I said. Then I saw the humvee. I held up a closed fist. Hirano and Takashi both stopped. We all crouched in the shadow of the buildings alleyway as Takashi watched our 6. "I see the vehicle. But some guys are surrounding it. 4 of em." I said. "Any weapons?" Takashi asked. I nodded "3 rifles and another rifle with a drum mag." I saw a man from last night giving orders to the rest. "They are definitely hostile. I see a survivor from last night. He's giving orders to the rest." I told them. Hirano brought up his scope. Without looking away from his scope he asked "Tall bald guy, dragon tattoo on his skull?" "Affirmative." I said. Hirano gasped "Shit they have G36C Sub machine guns. The guy with the drum mag rifle is actually holding a AA12 automatic shotgun. Serious hardware...military hardware." He finished. "Fuck. This changes things." Said Takashi. They sounded scared and I couldn't blame them. The first time I deployed I was nervous as hell. These guys have never been in a firefight before. "Takashi I can take these 4 alone just give me the word." I said. "No that's too risky. Besides we have the element of surprise." Shit, I was hoping he wouldn't of said that. "Boss I can do this. Killing a man is very different from killing one of Them." I countered. Rika chose this time to speak up "Takashi he can handle it. 4 guys would be nothing to him." She said. He thought for a second and then nodded his head "Fine but come back alive...Rei will appreciate it." I turned to look at him. Rika was silent and Hirano grinned. "Saeko owes me 5 bucks." He said. "We'll talk about it AFTER you take those thugs down." He told me with a serious face. I nodded. "Take em." Takashi said. "Engaging." I responded, sprinting at them. I was on them before they saw me.

I unsheathed my blade and stabbed the leader in the temple since he had the auto shotgun. The man by the drivers seat saw me and yelled "HOLY SHIT!" then fired his rifle. The other 2 guys were by the rear door and were rushing to help their partner. I shrugged off the bullets and walked towards him quickly. I stabbed him in the gut then on the top of his head. The last 2 guys went to run away but I ran after them. I jumped in front of them like I had fallen out of the sky. They fell on their assess terrified and started firing. My shields were at half strength so I shot them both with my M45 in the head. "All clear." I said. My squads mates both jogged out of hiding wide eyed. Hirano looked at the bodies. He turned to me and said "I'm so glad you're on our side." Takashi just looked stunned. "They didn't stand a chance." He said. "C'mon man we have a job to do." He just looked at the bodies. He couldn't stop. I put a hand on Takashis shoulder and shook him. "TAKASHI." I said sternly. He looked at me. "Right. Sorry." He said. "Nothing you need to apologize for squad leader." I reassured him. "Lead on." I said. After checking the humvee we found that it could still roll while in neutral. Sev pushed it next to the line of wrecked cars to make it look less suspicious. After looting the dead men we were on our way again. We had come up 4 new weapons and a decent amount of ammo for them. Unfortunately for me the AA12 didn't come with any 8-gauge shells. But the backpacks of the thugs had some food and water. To Hiranos joy the leaders pack also had one ST grenade. We decided to do an ammo check after we returned to the house. I was just glad that I had something to use instead of my M45. The bodies we tossed in a dumpster. That's when undead started to show up. "Quick into the alley!" Takashi said. We jogged into the dark corridor. I spotted an open door on our left. "Left boss left!" I said. He nodded and we ran inside. Hirano closed the door quietly behind us and we ran up a flight of stairs. We cleared the room and looked around for anything useful. After the office room yielded nothing we moved to the windows. In the street below was now at least 60 of Them, with more coming in from the street that the humvee initially drove in from. I sighed. "Sev let Rika know that we'll be staying here for a bit." Said Takashi. I nodded. "Rika this is Sev, you copy?" I asked. "Go ahead." She said. "We've got about 60 plus hostiles blocking our way home. We're going to hole up for now and come up with a plan, over." I said. "Roger, radio silence is advised. Rika out."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 4 part 2

Takashi and Hirano sat in some desk chairs and sighed. "We could use the grenade. Lure them away." Said Hirano. Takashi shook his head "No we might need it later. Any ideas Sev?" I looked around the office. "Maybe..." I said. I walked around and saw lots of office supplies, file cabinets, computers and small trinkets on each desk. Small pictures, pencils..."What about this?" I asked holding up a small can with a cone on the end. I tossed it to Takashi and his eyes widened. He looked at me and grinned. "Yeah...this'll work." He said. Hirano walked up to the window. He tensed up and brought his rifle up "Guys. More people in the street coming out of the building across the way." We all took cover by the wall, barely peeking over the window. Takashis face took on a hateful look. "HE'S down there." He whispered angrily. Hirano nodded. "Which one?" I asked zooming in with my helmet. "The guy with the revolver. Brown, freckles on his face, kinda tall." Hirano told me. My grip tightened on my assault rifle. So thus is the pig who wanted to kidnap and rape Rei. "Do we engage?" I asked. Takashi looked pissed. After a few seconds he shook his head "No. It'll attract all of Them to us and then we'd be even more trapped. Let them...FUCK. We let them go." I shook my head. "Fuck man I hate this shit." I told him. I crouched down and clicked the safety on my new G36C. Takashi went back and slumped into a chair.

Suddenly gunshots started sounding from outside. Hirano got down. He looked at us with a serious face. "One of Shinjis goons kicked a can and alerted the horde. They're being pushed back into the building they came in from. With the amount of Them I'd say we have about 10 minuets before we're good to move." He smiled. "Looks like we'll be out of here soon." Takashi chuckled. "Well we can save this little air horn for another rainy day." He put the small can into his new back pack and then turned to Hirano. "Well now that we got some time to kill, Saya looks like she's growing to like you a little." Takashi said. I laughed. "A little!? She was all 'Come back alive Kohta.' Then you were all 'captain smooth' on her and overloaded her genius brain." I told him. Hirano laughed nervously. "Oh I don't know about all that. She was just..." His voice trailed off. I took off my helmet and said "She's kinda into you friend." Hirano shook his head again. "I wish. Unfortunately for me she wants nothing to do with me except protect her." He said a little sadly. Takashi punched him lightly on the shoulder. "She called you by your FIRST name dude. She didn't call you otaku." He said. Hirano perked up a bit. "Hey...you're right. She called me Kohta!" He said excitedly. "Keep being her protector and you'll get there. Nothing gets a girl to like you more than saving her life." Takashi said.

"Speaking of which, what's up with you and Saeko?" I asked Takashi. He blushed a little and looked at the floor. "Is it that obvious?" He asked me. Hirano chuckled. "Look man truthfully...Saeko already told me what happened that night at the shrine." Takashi sighed and took a drink from his water bottle. "I noticed that you 2 have been getting closer. Hell she even says that you're the closest anyone has come to being her best friend." Hirano brightened up. "Yeah she's like the older sister I never had. Plus she was always nice to me at school." Hirano said. Takashi raised an eyebrow. "Really? Wow I didn't know that." He said. "Wait so what happened at the shrine?" I asked feeling it of the loop. Takashi grinned but didn't look at either of us. Hirano cleared his throat. Finally I put it all together. "You guys slept with each other didn't you?" For a few seconds he didn't say anything but then he nodded his head. "Yeah...we did." Hirano and I just smiled like fools and snickered. Finally Hirano asked the big question. "Sooooooo...what was it like?" He asked. I looked at Takashi. "Yeah man c'mon spill." I said. "Look all i can say is that it was fucking awesome but beyond that no way, if Saeko found out that I told anyone the details she'd use her sword on ME." He told us grinning. "Ugh fine boss that's fair." I told him. Then he took on a more serious face. "So...Sev...what's up with you and Rei? He asked. Oh shit. "Well...um..." I started weakly. Then something burst through the door from the stairway.

REI'S POV BACK AT THE HOUSE

"Sooooooo...what were you and Sev up too last night Miyamoto?" Takagi asked me. Oh shit. "Ummm...Nothing much just...talking." I said. The pinkette however was having nine of that. "C'mon I'm a genius. I'll figure it out eventually." She told me. Shizuka walked into the kitchen. "Boy talk? I want in!" She exclaimed as she sat down on one of the barstools by the counter. "Look I don't know what any of you think but all we were doing was talking!" I said nervously. "Well what were you talking about?" Shizuka asked. "Ummm...well...about my parents." I said. "I couldn't sleep so I went to the backyard to clear my head. Sev saw me and decided to come talk to me. We talked about our moms. Well I talked about my mom, he only mentioned her." Shizuka leaned forward interested. Saya stopped taking stock of the food. Saeko and Alice were up in the secret room with Rika, waiting for the away team to come back. "I told him about my mom and my dad. But when I asked him about his parents he shut down. I...he could only tell me that they were killed right I'm front of him by the covenant when he was little." I finished. Shizuka and Saya both looked sad.

"How cruel..." Shizuka muttered. Saya nodded. "That explains how he became a Spartan then." Saya said. I raised an eyebrow. "Explain." I said. Saya sighed before speaking. "Think about it. He's 17, his parents were killed by homicidal aliens in front of him when he was I'm guessing 6 or 7. He even told us that the covenant kill EVERYONE, even little kids. Who do you think SAVED him?" She said. She didn't wait for a response since she was on a roll. "His government did. The UNSC saved him. Now remember when he said that the only people who really stood a chance against the aliens were Spartans?" My eyes widened. Saya grinned. "I think he was saved BY Spartans. Then was trained to become one." She finished. Shizuka nodded in agreement. "But to be able to throw children into such a horrible war! It's terrible!" The blonde said. Poor Francisco. He's been fighting longer than any of us. We've only been fighting for a few days but he's been fighting his whole life. "That makes more sense than anything else." I said.

Shizuka shook her head trying to get back on topic. "Well then what happened Rei?" Shizuka asked. I blushed and looked away. "Well um nothing...except I almost kissed him." I said sheepishly. "YOU WHAT!?" The other girls exclaimed. "I SAID-" "We heard you the first time!" Saya yelled. Shizuka was giggling with glee. "Why!?" Shizuka asked me excitedly. "Well it was just the heat of the moment and he was shirtless and his muscles are just-LOOK nothing happened. The explosion stopped us from going any further." I confessed to them. Saya smiled at me wickedly. "You're totally into him aren't you!?" She asked me grinning. I shook my head. "No-yes-oh I don't know. Ever since Hisashi...died I've been trying to..." My voice trailed off. "Get with Takashi." They both said. I nodded my head as I sat at the counter top with Shizuka and put my head down. "Yeah...but then Saeko came into the picture and then the both of them spending the night alone. Then Sev shows up and saves me. On top of it all Hisashi has only been gone for like a week and I almost kiss a guy I've only known for less than 24 hours! What the hell is the matter with me!?" I said and started crying. Shizuka hugged me as I sobbed, whispering to just let it all out and that I'll feel better after. Then Saya did something I never expected. She came around and hugged me too. "Nothing is wrong with you. I didn't know Hisashi but i can bet he just wanted you to be happy. To not be alone. Maybe Sev didn't just show up by accident. Maybe he's here to save us and to...I don't know...make you happy. I know he's in desperate need of some happiness. Maybe you can give him that." She said. I hugged them both a little tighter and chuckled. "You're getting soft Saya. Maybe Hirano is rubbing off on you." I said. She laughed. "Don't push it Miyamoto." She said. "I love you too." I responded. Shizuka laughed and said "Oh I love all of you."

We came apart and I wiped a tear away. "Thanks. I still need some time to think but...I'm going to talk to him when I get the chance." I said. "Don't forget to talk to Takashi and Saeko. They need to know how you feel." Shizuka said. I nodded. "I will. But after I do some thinking." Saeko and Alice burst into the kitchen. "Everyone. Something has happened to Takashi and the others." She said. My heart started beating at 100 miles per hour. "What's wrong!?" Saya asked. "They made it to the humvee but had to retreat into a building. They are trapped inside with no way out fighting off a large amount of Them. They are being pushed deeper into the building." She told us. "Oh god! We have to go help them!" I said. Saeko shook her head. "Shinji and his men are in the area. Heavily armed and very mad." Saeko said. "We have to stay and defend the house just in case they come this way. Rika wants all the lights off and no noise until the others return." Shizuka nodded and flipped the switch in the kitchen. Saya took Alice and they both went into Shizukas room. The blonde grabbed some bottled water and some chips then followed them. Saeko and I ran into our room and grabbed our weapons. Saeko ran to the front door and stood off to its side. As if she was waiting for someone to kick it down. I stood down the hall and clicked the safety on my rifle. If a human enemy comes through that door then I can aim for their chest. Even if I'm a lousy shot I can't miss at this range. Then we waited. Faintly, off in the direction the others went. I could hear gunfire. "Please be ok guys...We need you." I muttered. This is Hirano, Takashi and, Sev. With those 3 working together nothing on this earth could stop them.

SEV'S POV TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUILDING 6TH FLOOR

I kicked in the door and saw another 5 undead. I raised my G36C and fired at Them as they rushed me. Hirano and Takashi were right behind me, struggling to catch their breath. "Friends of yours?" He gasped. Gesturing to the now very dead bodies. "Naw we just met. How far down are the others?" I asked. Hirano jogged to the stairway and peered over the rail. "We got about 2 minutes!" He called out. Fuck. "Ok you guys find us a way down fast! I'll hold them off." Takashi said. He ran into the stairwell and ran down into the darkness. Hirano and I scrambled. Looking for some way down. "Hey over here!" Hirano called out. Takashi started firing his new AA12. I ran over to Hirano and saw him standing by an elevator shaft. I pried open the doors and saw that the shaft was empty, only a rope hung I'm the middle. "That elevator is on the ground floor. With a running start we could grab that cable and fireman our way down!" Hirano said. He reached into his backpack and pulled out 2 pairs of military looking gloves. "Go get Takashi!" He yelled. I nodded and ran back to the stairway. Takashi came running out. He spun around and fired his weapon. "We need to leave now!" He said. "This way!" I said. We ran back to the shaft and saw Hirano waiting. "Put these on." Hirano said tossing the gloves to Takashi. He hurriedly put them on as Hirano explained his plan. "Dude this plan is fucked." Takashi said. Hirano nodded. "No choice." He responded. I ran and jumped into the shaft. I grabbed the cable and started sliding down. Takashi jumped and started to descend. Hirano jumped and grabbed the cable but almost lost his grip.

I reached the bottom and landed on the top of elevator. Takashi joined me a minute later. "I should've gone to gym class." Hirano said from above. Suddenly he started slipping and lost his grip. If not for my night vision I wouldn't have seen it. "SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" Hirano yelled as he fell. I jumped up with all my strength and grabbed him. Unfortunately we went straight through the top of the elevator on the way down. Takashi feel in after us. "You guys good?" He asked. I stood up and picked up Hirano. Then I quickly pried open the elevator doors. In the lobby of building there was at least 30 of Them. Behind us an undead feel through the hole i left in elevators ceiling. "Let's move!" I yelled and opened fire. Takashi and Hirano started unloading on em. More undead were falling through the hole in the ceiling. The undead by the stairs turned around and rushed us. I set my weapon to fully automatic and Takashi switched back to his M37 Ithaca. I tossed Hirano a G36C and started firing.

Hirano was on fire. He switched it to semi auto and fired. Undead dropped around him left and right. Takashi bashed the butt of his shotgun into a female zombies face. She went down and Takashi shoved the barrel in her face then fired. He raised his shotgun and fired at another one. One of Them lunged at me but I sidestepped it, unsheathed my blade and stabbed him the back of head. I wheeled back around and kept firing. "We need to get back into the street!" I yelled. "There's too many! Hirano! Use that grenade!" Takashi told him. Hirano got a wicked look on his face and primed the ST grenade. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" He yelled and threw the grenade. We all dropped and the grenade went off. The undead closest to detonation were ripped apart. The rest just toppled over from the shockwave. The remaining windows shattered and flew everywhere. Takashi and Hirano both looked dazed but were moving. I shot to feet and hauled them to there feet. "Up! C'mon we gotta go!" I yelled. Hirano shook his head grinning. "That was awesome!" Takashi nodded. "Right! Run now! We still have things to do!" Takashi said. We nodded and followed him into the street. To bad for us that we didn't notice Shinji and his guys watching us.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT IT'S ABOUT TO GO DOWN!

lemme know how y'all feel bout this chapter.

The Bounty Hunter


	8. Chapter 8

Aight let's knock this chapter out together!

Disclaimer I don't own High school of the dead nor do I own Halo.

Chapter 5 Fighting the living, escape the DEAD

SEV'S POV CITY STREETS

"Well this just screams fucking sketch." Said Takashi. After we escaped the office building (by a stroke of luck) we found ourselves back on track of our mission. Now that we decided that the humvee was officially out of the picture, we hit the next item on our list. Medicine. The good news was that Hirano knew of a pharmacy that was close. It had everything from toothpaste to painkillers. First aid kits and gauze. The works. The bad news was that it was 20 minutes away from where we were. The worst news was that it was in the direction of the giant monster Rika and I made friends with. We met minimal resistance on the way there and now stood in front of a 2 story corner store. Thanks to the EMP the inside of the store wasn't very well lit. "Copy that boss. Hirano PLEASE tell me that the stuff we need isn't on the second floor." I said. The marksman scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "Sorry Sev, the supplies are on the second floor." OF COURSE. Well Raymond use to say that if it was easy then it wasn't worth our time. The memory of his death flashed through my mind. I pushed the thought away from my head. No time to think about that. I got a job to do.

"Ok well since I'm the one with the night vision I'll go In. I grab the stuff and go." I said. Takashi nodded. "In and out, safe and sound. Well guard the exit till you come out." He told me. Our comms buzzed to life "Sev this is Rika, copy?" Rika said. "This is Sev, go ahead Rika, over." I replied. "I'm hearing a shit ton of gunshots coming from your last known position. You guys still I'm the area, over." Fuck. "No we're over by a pharmacy 25 mikes away. It must likely is the bandits we encountered earlier, over." I said. Takashi and Hirano exchanged nervous looks. "Roger. Well they've stopped firing. If we're lucky they're undead chow. If not then...If not I'll let you know, over." Rika said. "Roger Rika standby. What's the plan boss? Wanna head back?" I asked Takashi. He turned toward the direction of the house. He stared for a few seconds. "Hirano how far is the food from here?" He asked. "Well...If we luck out then there will be canned food under the pharmacy on the first floor. If not then another 15 minutes father away from home." Takashi nodded. "Rika...have they started shooting again?" Tense seconds of silence then "No...you guys should keep going. If they head our way then I'll let you know Takashi." Rika said. He turned and faced us. "Ok then, Sev go fast. Clear the first floor then head upstairs. Hirano and I will grab what we can. Hopefully it's enough."

"Ok guys it's clear. Move in." I said as I ascended the stairway. I had my knife at the ready. I reached the top and slowly opened the door. I looked around and saw that some windows had open blinds, letting in some light from outside. More importantly this place hadn't been touched. It had a very simple pharmacy look. A counter with a cash register and shelves of general health care stuff. "Jackpot." I muttered. I checked my motion sensor and saw Takashi and Hirano but then a third dot appeared. Whoever it was it for sure wasn't one of Them. Vital signs said alive. "Guys there is someone else up here." I said quietly. "Hostile?" Takashi asked. "I'll let you know." I said. This is so fucked. "Hello!" I called out. "I know you're in here!" I said. "I'm not going to hurt you! Just come out where I can see you. Please." I waited. Suddenly a woman came out from behind a shelf on my right and charged. Her black hair was at shoulder length and she looked somewhere from 30 to 35. Aside from the deadly spear she had leveled at my chest and the calm intense death glare, she was very good-looking. I sighed and sidestepped her spear. "Guys could you come up here and help me calm this lady down?" I said annoyed. She spun around and threw a round house kick. I effortlessly dodged it and took another step back. She thrust her spear and I grabbed it with one hand. Before I could disarm her Takashi burst through the door. "Ma'am please we're on...wait a sec Mrs. Miyamoto...miss Kiriko is that you?!" Takashi exclaimed. My jaw dropped. She turned to face him. Her eyes grew wide. "Takashi...is that you?" She asked letting go of her spear. He smiled sheepishly. "Hi." He croaked, his eyes slightly watering. "TAKASHI!" She yelled and rushed him. She grabbed him and hugged him tightly, tears of joy falling from her face. He returned the hug and did his best not to lose it right then. "Mrs. Miyamoto...can't breath." He finally said after a few seconds. She stopped hugging him but didn't release him. "Let me look at you. Are you hurt? Have you eaten anything?" She asked him sounding very motherly. Well she's known him since he was a kid. She probably thinks of him as her own. She was looking him over as if making sure he was still in one piece. She was asking him a million questions like how did he escape the school, was Rei ok, any broken bones, was Rei ok. Finally he chuckled and held his hands up. "I'm fine, I'm fine honest. Rei's ok too. We escaped the school together with some other students and the nurse. She's waiting for us at our friend Hiranos house." She smiled at him. "Thanks for keeping her safe Takashi." Her smile wavered a bit. "I'm sure Hisashi has been a big help in the past few days. Is he at this safe house too? Or is he downstairs?" Takashi looked at his feet, his smile now gone. "Hisashi...he um...he didn't make it."

Kirikos smile vanished. "Oh...I'm sorry Takashi...I know you 2 weren't on the best terms recently ever since that thing with Rei..." She didn't finish her sentence. I tilted my head. What thing with Rei? "How did...how did he die?" Kiriko asked gently. Takashi couldn't look her in the eyes. "He uh...he got bit. Before he turned he asked me to...make sure he died human. Rei wouldn't allow it. While we argued he turned...then I killed him." Takashi said with a stone face. He didn't even register that he was crying. Kiriko looked stunned. She slowly pulled him close and hugged him gently. "When he's ready...I'm going to grab what we need...we'll be downstairs." I said. Kiriko nodded and I went about getting everything. Rubbing alcohol, bandages, gauze, painkillers, hydrogen peroxide feminine hygiene stuff, first aid kits and, lollipops for Alice. Good thing we have Kiriko with us now. It'll make carrying everything home easier. As I walked past the 2 Takashis body was shaking but he barely made a sound. Kiriko looked down at him sadly, rubbing his back and whispering words of encouragement. I walked downstairs and saw Hirano happily munching on a chocolate bar. "Never thought I'd eat one of these again. Got plenty for the girls too." He noticed I was alone. "Where's Takashi?" He asked seriously. I sat on the floor and sighed. "Upstairs. That lady just so happens to be Reis mom. They'll be down soon." I answered. Hirano smiled. "Rei's going to love you for this. Plus lucky for us we found a whole bunch of food. Even dog food for Zeke." He said. I nodded and he continued to eat his chocolate. I on the other hand was trying to figure out what went between Rei, Takashi and, Hisashi. I thought back to last night and this morning. She obviously likes me. At least I hope so. But then why was Hisashi so important to them. Clearly he was close friends with the 2 but it had to go deeper then that. I hope I'm not messing with Reis emotions. Shit I almost kissed her! Now she's going to think that I went into backyard to advantage of her. Smooth 07, real gentleman you are. After about 5 minutes Takashi and Kiriko came downstairs. Hirano smiled and bowed. "Pleasure to meet you Mrs. Miyamoto. My name is Kohta Hirano." He said. Kiriko returned the bow. "My name is Kiriko Miyamoto. It's nice to meet you Kohta." I stood up and took off my helmet. I followed suit and bowed. "Sorry about all that upstairs. I'm Francisco Spartan 07. Please call me Sev." She bowed again. "I should be apologizing. Takashi tells me that you saved my daughters life yesterday. Thank you." She said. I nodded. "I'm a soldier ma'am. That's the job." I said. Then I grinned. "Besides, Rei is one tough cookie. I'm sure she would have figured something out of I hadn't come along." I told her. She kept staring at me a little confused. "You're not from around here are you? From the U.S. maybe?" She asked. Takashi, Hirano and, I all exchanged looks. Takashi cleared his throat. "We'll explain everything when we get back to the house. For now let's-" he was cut off by his comm. His face took on a worried expression as he listened to Rika. "Ok we're on the way! Takashi out!" He turned to me. "Shinji and about 15 guys are trying to get into the house!"

REI'S POV BACK AT THE HOUSE "LET US IN! MAKE THIS EASY FOR US YOU FUCKERS!" Shinji yelled. His guys kept taking shots at Rika on the roof. I peeked out the window and saw a fist banging on the gate. I saw a few guys in the street taking cover from Rika. One guy jumped out of cover and fired his machine gun at the house. "SAEKO HIT THE FLOOR!" I yelled and hit the ground. The window above me shattered as bullets tore into the house. I couldn't see Saeko but I heard Rika return fire. The machine gun stopped. I peeked over again and saw the man dead, a hole In his forehead. Rika shot 3 more times and 2 more guys dropped dead. I looked around and saw Saeko laying on her stomach, one hand over her head, the other hand clutching her sword. "Are you hurt!?" I asked crawling to her. "Just a little scared." She said calmly. I reached her just as more gunfire erupted into the house. I rolled on top of her and shielded her with my body. Rika returned fire again and the machine gun was silenced again. "SHOOT THAT BITCH!" Shinji yelled to his men. Suddenly it sounded like a million people started shooting all at once. My eyes widened. If Rika dies we're all dead. Instinct took over and I ran back to the window. I aimed at the closest bandit to me and pulled the trigger. My rifle kicked and hit my shoulder hard but my shot connected with the mans nose. He went down instantly. I dropped to ground as they opened fire on my position again. Suddenly they stopped firing. Confused I peeked over the windowsill and saw them all messing with their guns. They have to reload. "THEY'RE RELOADING!" Rika yelled and started firing. I stood up and aimed. I fired at a bandit who dropped his mag, he was bent over trying to grab it. I missed and hit his backpack. There was a loud explosion and he was engulfed in flames. The shockwave knocked a few guys over. The explosion popped my ears and I dropped again. After a few seconds I could hear again. The guys in the street were all taking cover. I heard movement on the roof and suddenly Rika landed in the front yard. She turned and sprinted into the house. She dove through the window and took cover next to me. She was bleeding from her right leg and had a gash on her right cheek. "Oh god you've been shot!" I said after getting a better look at her leg. She opened her mouth but then the back door flew open and 2 guys with pistols stormed in. They saw us and aimed. Rika tackled me down but Saeko was faster then the bandits. In one swift move she cut off their hands. Then she decapitated them both. "Thanks!" Said Rika. Saeko nodded. She looked at the backdoor. "You 2 hold the front door. I'll take the back."

And like that she was gone. "Wait don't go alone!" Rika called out to her. Some more gun fire started in the backyard. Then we heard pained screams. "Gates open boss!" Somebody said. Rika and I turned our attention back to the front. The gate was open. Rika took out her Sig and fired just as bandits tried to run through. I followed suit, firing but missing more times then actually hitting someone. They stopped coming through the gate after Rika and I killed about 4 of them. Damn I wish I knew how to reload this thing. "Why'd they stop?" I asked Rika. "They don't have very many guys left." She started. "MAYBE THEY'LL JUST FUCKING LEAVE!" She yelled at them. We waited for a response. Then someone started laughing like a maniac. He sounded like a demonic clown. Finally he calmed down enough to speak. "You don't get it do you? I've got more guys on the way AND I'M NOT LEAVING UNTIL I GET MY HANDS ON THAT BROWN HAIRED BITCH!" He yelled with rage. "I know she's there. Your boyfriend isn't around to save you this time is he!" He said. Rika looked at me. I felt terrified and must've shown it. "They'll have to kill me before they get to you." She said. I shook my head. Maybe if I go with them then they'll leave everyone alone. "They'd still kill us all Rei." Rika said as if she'd read my mind. She smiled at me. "Don't worry. We'll figure this out." She said. More gunshots from the backyard. More screams of agony. Saeko must still be kicking some ass. I turned back to Rika and nodded. "The guys will be back soon. Then those guys are dead." She reassured me. Saeko walked back into the house.

She was covered in blood and breathing heavy. "Where...are the...others?" She finally said. Rika did a double take. "Are you hurt!?" She asked moving to her and dragging her to the ground. "No...just winded...what about...you?" She asked. As Rika spoke I studied Saeko. There was a gleam in her eyes and she was trying to keep a straight face. For a split second she cracked a grin. It happened so fast that I thought I'd imagined it. "Finally! Where the fuck have you guys been!?" Shinji asked. I looked out the window and felt like throwing up. Another 10 guys were jogging up to the house. One of them was carrying a rocket launcher. "Sorry, the boss wanted us to do something for him." A man said. Suddenly automatic fire rang out. The man with the RPG dropped. "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY KID!" More gunfire and two more guys dropped. I looked at the origin of the familiar voice. "MOM!" I yelled.

SEV'S POV IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE

As soon as I saw Shinji I started firing. "On our right!" Shinji yelled to his men. "Into cover now!" Takashi said. "Rei stay down!" Her mother told her. Shinjis men all ducked behind cover. One guy started shooting at the house. I heard a scream come from the house and then anger exploded in my body. I started charging at the bandits, firing my weapon whenever one of them peeked out of cover. I stopped and took cover behind a truck to reload just as the bandits started to pull back. I popped back out of cover and started firing again. I hit about 5 of them before deciding to rush again. Just when they were about to full out run away undead started coming out of the street on their left. "Cease fire!" Yelled Hirano. "Let those idiots led Them away!" He continued. Kiriko and Takashi both stopped shooting. Every fiber in my being still wanted to chase after the retreating men and gun them down. "Sev." I heard Takashi say. My grip tightened on my rifle. "Let them go man. They won't come back today. Let's regroup." I shook my head. "This is so fucked. Let me go after them Takashi. If they make it back to their HQ then they'll be back. Soon." I said. Takashi shook his head. "No. We need you here. Besides how do you think the others would react if I just let you go alone." "BUT THEY'LL BE BACK-" "Which is exactly why we won't be here. We'll get an early start and be gone before they show up." Takashi said. I shook my head. "Sorry man. Can't take that risk." I looked at the house and saw Rei and her mom staring at us. Fuck. They probably heard everything we just said. "Sev don't go." Rei said. Her voice was tight like she going to cry. I turned to Takashi. "I'll be back." I said. He sighed. "Hirano hold down the fort. Sev and I are going hunting." He said. "What are you-" I started but he held his hand up. "I'm not about to let you go alone, super soldier or not." I nodded. "We take the machine guns and some ammo. The supplies stay here." He said as walked over to Rei and her mom. "Wait what-" Rei started. Takashi walked past her into the house. I followed suit but handed my supplies to Rei. "Take these. Stay here." I said. I looked at the house it was a mess. We all saw Takashi kissing Saeko. He stood up and walked back out. "Be careful!" The samurai called out behind him. "Wait don't go!" Rei said. I turned to Kiriko. "Keep them safe." I said. Takashi started jogging after Shinji. I turned and followed him.

We jogged after Shinjis group for about 20 minuets in silence. I led and followed the trail of bodies that littered the street. "Damn these guys sure don't want to die huh." I muttered. "Yeah well that sucks." Takashi said. We followed the bodies for another 20ft then turned left and stopped. Undead were being dropped left and right. They all surrounded a building that sat alone in the middle of a courtyard. A beautiful fountain of an angel was in front of the building. Men in the upper floors fired silenced weapons into the crowd. Takashi tapped me on the shoulder and pointed up at the building. I followed his gaze and saw a skybridge connecting this building with a smaller building. Men with RPGS patrolled the smaller building. Right now however they just watched the slaughter. "I count at least 30 guys." I said. Takashi nodded grimly. "Well they made it home." He said. I sighed. "C'mon let's go Sev." He said. I nodded and we booked it back to house. "Did they at least get Shinji?" Takashi asked as we ran back. "I don't know. Maybe." I replied. Our comms buzzed. "Hey it's Rika, where are you guys?" She asked. "On our way back now. Everything good?" I asked. "Yeah. But I'm telling you now that Rei is pissed. Alice is pretty shook up too." She said. Takashi groaned. "We're so dead man." He said. I looked at him and nodded. "Well at least we know where they live. They won't go too far away from home to chase us." I said. Takashi opened his mouth to say something but froze, looking past me. I stopped. "What's wrong?" I asked. He swallowed and pointed right past me. I sighed and looked too. Something stood in the middle of the street. It stood about 5ft tall and its skin was pitch black. Its ruby red eyes gazed in our direction. Where it's arms were supposed to be there were 2 blades made of bone. If my eyes were playing tricks on me that would explain why it looked like shadows were rippling and rolling off its body, almost like nighttime camouflage. Its legs looked malnourished and were trembling. "What...the FUCK...is THAT?" I whispered. "How should I know?" Takashi whispered back. "HANDS UP! NOW!" A new voice shouted.

I turned around slowly and saw it was one of Shinjis men. "SHUT UP. IT'LL HEAR YOU." I whispered angrily. I heard Takashi gasp. "Fuck you! There's nothing here but us!" I looked back and saw that the shadow monster was gone. I looked at Takashi but he just shook his head. We both turned to face the man and I almost died of shock. Somehow, the monster had gotten past Takashi and I and was now eating the man. It barely made a noise while eating and the man was extremely dead, his throat ripped out and a blade through his head. Takashi and I slowly backed away. We were about 5ft away when our luck ran out. Takashis comm sounded that it was almost dead. It made a low beep and the monster suddenly turned in our direction. We froze. It looked at us, still holding up the body of the dead bandit. For 10 seconds we stood quietly, not moving hell not breathing. Slowly, it began to turn its attention away from us when suddenly Rika contacted us. "Hey you guys ok?" She asked. The monster snapped his head back our way again. Fucking fuck. "Rika..." I whispered. "Stop...talking..." I said. It growled and disappeared. The fact that the sun was setting didn't help. Takashi and I suddenly stood back to back, our weapons pointing everywhere. I looked at my radar and saw nothing. Then a red dot appeared, closing fast on my left. "ON MY LEFT!" I yelled. We turned and opened fire. It was 3ft away but the bullets slammed into it and forced it to stop. Suddenly it vanished again. "Fuck where'd it fucking go?" Takashi said. "It's a fucking shadow monster man. That's not even fucking fair!" I complained. I checked my radar and saw it closing fast on my right. I turned too late as the monster slammed into me. It stabbed wildly but my shields stopped me from getting shish-ka-fucked. "TAKASHI SHOOT THIS FUCKING THING!" I yelled, trying to grab its arms. "I can't get a clear shot!" Takashi said. I turned my body and monster towards him. "SHOOT IT!" I Yelled again. "I'll hit you!" Takashi said shaking his head. "DO IT!" I told him. I looked at my shields. Quarter power. Fuck. Takashi yelled defiantly and fired.

REI'S POV BACK AT THE HOUSE

We all watched Rika and Hirano quietly. After the others left we cleared the bodies in the house and backyard. We moved some furniture in front of the window and barricaded the front gate. Shizuka went to work on Rika and Hirano, my mom and Saeko looked over everything they scavenged. Saya, Alice, Zeke and, I watched the street from the kitchen window. I can't believe that they'd go alone after those homicidal maniacs. I asked him not to go and he hardly looked in my direction. Couldn't he see how terrified we are. I killed 2 people today. My hands can't stop shaking and i feel like I'm going to puke. But did he ask if I was ok? No. He just left. After about 30 minutes Rika attempted to contact them but was told to be quiet. Then we heard gunshots. "Oh god." Rika said, her eyes wide. Hirano got up and started moving to the front door, G36C in his hands. "What do you think you're doing?" Saya asked him. "I'm going to help them." He replied. Rika shook her head. "No way kid. You heard the Spartan. If they can barely fight one-" she stopped talking and her jaw dropped. "Takashi don't-" she started but more gunshots rang out. Hirano stood frozen at the door. "What happened?" My mom asked. Neither of them spoke. Then they both looked as if the weight of world slid off their shoulders. "You guys had us going for a second." Rika said. Hirano chuckled. "Did you guys grease that thing?" He asked. More seconds of silence. "Ok just hurry up yeah? Alice and Zeke miss you both." Rika said. "What happened?" Asked my mom again. "They fought a shadow zombie but they killed it. They should back soon." Rika said. She laughed wearily. "Never thought I'd say something like that in my life." We all chuckled. "I never thought that I'd kill any undead except in my video games." Hirano said. "I never thought I'd be squatting in a house, hiding from hordes of..." Saeko let her sentence trail off. She didn't need to finish it. A week ago most of us didn't even know each other. Now here we are. Fighting to survive against impossible odds. Trusting each other with our lives. I sighed. It's been a long, emotional day.

"Hey y'all. What's new?" Sev said as he walked through the front door. Takashi close behind. "Takashi!" Saeko exclaimed and tackle-hugged him. Takashi held her tightly. "You all ok?" Takashi asked us. We all nodded. He looked at me, his eyes asking if I was ok. I nodded. Then he and Saeko began to whisper back and forth. "Welcome back guys." My mom said. Sev nodded. "Good to be back Mrs. Miyamoto." Alice ran up to him. "Hey onee-chan! Are you tired?" She asked eagerly. Sev put his gun down and scooped her up. "As if! I could do this non stop kid." Sev said. He looked at Saya. "How are you?" Sev asked. "I'm alright. Just shook up is all." Saya said. He nodded and handed her the little girl. Rika was laying on Hiranos couch with Shizuka next to her fast asleep. He knelt next to her. "Status?" He asked the sniper. She chuckled. "I was hit but giant jugs patched me up so I'll be good. Though i will be limping for a while." She told him. He nodded. He got up and walked over to me. "You ok?" He asked. I glared at him. "Tch. Yeah I'm fine. Thanks for noticing." I said. He tilted his head to one side. "I'm sorry?" Sev asked confused. "Don't be." I said. I stormed off into the my room and shut the door. "Jerk." I muttered.

After a few seconds someone knocked on the door. "Who is it?" I asked. A few seconds passed before he spoke. "It's Takashi." I sighed and walked to my bed. "Come in." I said as i sat down. He walked in and shut the door. He walked over and sat down next to me. For about a minute we didn't say anything. Finally I broke the silence. "What's up Takashi?" I asked quietly. He looked at me and smiled. "You know i love you right?" He asked. His question startled me. "Um...yeah i know." I said. He looked away. "When I...when I killed Hisashi I thought that you'd hate me." I looked at him. He never talked about Hisashi. Whenever I brought him up he'd get angry. "Then when you told me that I hated Hisashi because you 2 were dating I never felt so low in my life. I thought that you despised me. I thought you wanted me dead." He said. I felt like crying. I had no idea that I put him through that. "And I figured that I would rather you hate me and be alive alone rather than having to put up with me. But when I tried to go downstairs you stopped me. You said that you didn't mean it. That you didn't want to be alone." He said. "I silently promised that as long as I lived that nothing would harm you." His voice got tighter and he shed a tear. "Then we found the others and started to make our way out of the school." He chuckled and wiped away some tears. "You remember when I tested Takagi's theory that they couldn't hear? And you asked me why I volunteered and I told you that I didn't know why. Well...I was actually doing it because a little part of me thought that maybe I was in over my head and should just call it quits. But when that first undead came close I realized that I didn't want to die. That I wanted to keep going, keep fighting, so long as I could stay close to you...fighting the dead was a price worth paying." He grabbed my hand. "Then Saeko came into my life and things started getting even more confusing. I can't deny that even though I loved you she was getting closer to me and I to her. Eventually I realized that I cared about her. The reason I put you off at the mansion is because of Saeko. I..." He let his sentence trail off. He looked me in my eyes before responding. "I...I think I'm in love with her. I should have told you this sooner. She and I are..." I held up my hand. "I get it. You 2 are seeing each other aren't you." He scratched his head and laughed nervously. "Yeah but I'm not done yet." He composed himself then kept going. "When we were separated from you guys we made our way to a park. We were doing great until Saeko just froze. She almost got bit but I saved her. After that she couldn't fight. So we ran." He said. Saeko stop fighting? That didn't sound like her at all. "We made our way to a shrine and I asked her why she froze. I...can't explain why she stopped. That's not my story to tell. But I listened to her. In the morning she almost gave up on me but I didn't let her. I told her that I needed her. That what she did before didn't matter, but what she did NOW was important." He got up and pulled me into a hug. "What you do now...that's important too. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Saeko and I. Just know that I'll always care about you. Maybe not as a lover but as a brother." He finished. I felt tears welling in my eyes. "Takashi I-" "Don't worry about it. We're good." He pulled away.

"Your mom is talking to him right now in the backyard. He was a mix of emotions after you left. If you want...talk to him. I'm going to help Rika and Shizuka to bed. They said that they already ate." He walked out of my room. After he closed the door I sat on my bed. "What is wrong with me?" I said to myself. Takashis words rang in my head. I chuckled. So he and Saeko eh? At least he talked about Hisashi. When he left he seemed more at peace. Almost like he had centred himself. I looked out the window and saw my mom talking to Sev. He had his helmet off and was smiling at my mom. They shook hands and then she got up. He looked back up at the sky and she began waking into the house. I bit my lip. Maybe I should go talk to him. What i did wasn't fair to him. I got up and changed into a tank top and shorts. I looked out the window again and saw that he was shedding his armor. I walked into the living room and saw my mom helping Saya make dinner. I walked up to her and hugged her again. She kissed me on the top of my head and sighed. "I'm so glad that you're alright Rei." She said. I nodded. "Any word from dad?" I asked. "Maybe. But I'll explain when the food is ready." She hesitated for a second then hugged me tighter. "Go talk to him. He saved your life twice and saved me. The way you acted towards him wasn't ok...by the way your trembling...how many men did you kill today?" I tensed up. "2...I shot one man and hit an explosive in another's backpack." I said. She nodded. "Go talk to him. Right now he can help you more than I can." She said, releasing me from her hug. I nodded. "I love you mom." I said. "I love you more." She said. I walked out of the kitchen and into the backyard.

Sev turned around and saw me. "Hey." He said. "Hi." I responded. For a few seconds we didn't say anything. All we did was stare at each other. "Mind if I sit with you?" I asked. He looked confused. "First your super pissed. Then you call me a jerk and yes I heard you, now you want to sit with me?" He asked puzzled. I nodded. "I owe you an apology and an explanation." I told him. He looked at me then looked at the sky. "Yeah...why not." He said patted the spot right next to him. I sat down and took a deep breath. "I...I'm sorry. I acted like a jerk and a child. It's just that today was a rough day. I killed 2 people and was shot at for the first time in my life. I was absolutely positive that I was going to be taken by that pig Shinji. I thought that you guys wouldn't make it back in time and that they'd kill everyone. Jesus why can't I stop shaking!" I said. Francisco wrapped an arm around me. "Listen to the sound of my voice Rei. Listen and breath. I'm not mad at you. How can I be?" He told me. That's when I couldn't hold back anymore. I hugged him tighter. "I was so scared! You looked like you didn't even CARE! All you said was I'll be back! You brought me back my mom and I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am to you. But then you just leave. And you take Takashi with you. I can't lose anyone else. First Hisashi to Them, then my parents disappear, and now your with us and we trust you with our lives and just..." I looked at him. Tears were flowing from my face now. "I can't lose anyone...I am SO SCARED all the time and when we split up now it doesn't mean I'll see you later. It means I might never see you again. Do you KNOW what that's like?" I asked him. He sighed. "Of course I know what that feels like." He said.

I mentally kicked myself. He's a guy who was thrown into a life like this at an she younger then Alice. Fighting things worse then the undead. How many friends has he lost? "I've been a soldier every since my family died. Maybe even before that..." He took a breath. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I'm sorry that this happened. I go from fighting psychotic aliens bent on the genocide of man to fighting...undead people trying to eat the living. I just adjusted as fast as I could and kept trying to be a soldier. After watching Takashi and Hirano fight I figured all of you were that cool under fire. I should have been more observant." He sighed. "I guess I still feel like an outsider. Super soldier from the future thrown into the past. Into an alternate past where the dead are eating people...I'm sorry Rei." He finished. I laughed. "If you forgive me, I'll forgive you." I said. He looked at me and smiled. He stood up and hugged me. "Deal." He said. I hugged him back. For a while we just stayed like that. Holding each other and not saying anything. Just enjoyed each others company. Eventually I broke the silence. "Um...about the other night." I started. He cringed. "Yeah about that. Look I came out here to cheer you up I wasn't trying to like, take advantage of you or anything like that I was just-" I laughed and he stopped taking. "No no it's ok. I know those weren't your intentions. I've been a bit of an emotional wreck lately. But that's not your fault." I assured him. We pulled apart. He looked up at the sky. It stopped raining and the clouds had broken up a bit, letting in the orange light of the setting sun. "I just have to sort myself out first." I told him. I braced myself for what I planned to do next. "But just so you know that I'm not telling to lead you on..." I pulled his head towards me, stood on the tips of my toes and kissed him. My stomach felt like there was a thousand butterflies trying to get out. He pulled me closer and picked me up. Suddenly I wanted more. I didn't want to stop. Reluctantly we pulled away. He stared at me and chuckled. "Never thought I'd live long enough to do that." Francisco said as he stared into my eyes. I giggled as he set me down. "Don't act like you've never kissed a girl before." I said with a grin. He laughed and nodded. "Believe it or not, that was my first kiss." He confessed. I stopped giggling and looked at him. I titled my head and smiled. "Are you serious?" I asked him. He nodded. "Yup. The UNSC picked me up when I was 6 and all I did was train. Then at 13 I went on my first mission. After that the only thing I'd do in my downtime was eat, hang out with the Spartans and, sleep. Never been on a date, never kissed a girl or had a girlfriend. Just fought with my fellow soldiers..." His voice trailed off and he looked at the sky. "This is the first time I've ever been on earth too. I had always heard stories about her but never rotated to the sol system. Spartans were needed on the frontlines. It's a shame the stories I was told don't exactly match the real thing." He said chuckling. I was wide eyed. "Really?" I asked. He nodded while grinning. "True story Rei." He said. I shook my head in disbelief. "Never had a girlfriend?" I asked. He shook his head. "Never been on a date?" Again he shook his head. "Never been to earth?" Again he said no. I laughed and kissed him again. "Wait until the others hear about this!" I said. I grabbed his hand and we began waking into the house. That stupid grin still on his face.

An hour later we had finished eating and cleaning. Showered and relaxed all of us except Rika and Shizuka were in the living room. My mom had explained that she was not allowed back into our neighborhood. She had apparently been living in our house still and the neighborhood had more or less banned together and managed to repel the dead. But when they took in a new group of people things began to change. "Then one day I went on a supply run. When i came back they refused to let me in. I left and started walking. I wandered for about 2 days. I found the pharmacy and then Sev found me. No here we are." She finished. Takashi and Saeko say next to each other on the couch. Sev and I sat against the wall with Alice in my lap. Zeke was curled up in Sevs lap. My mom sat in an armchair close to me. Hirano and Saya sat next top each other on another couch. "Do you know why they didn't let you back in?" I asked. "No. I just came back and they turned me away. But that's not important. When I left I ended up by the police station. After checking it out I found out that there's an evacuation taking place at the Shintoko Third Elementary School. I didn't see your father at the station. Alive or dead. So we have to assume that he's still alive. He's probably helping with the evacuation but it'll take place soon. We have about a week to get there before the SDF pulls out and we're stuck here." She finished. Sev leaned forward. "How sure are you that this evac is going to happen?" Francisco asked. "If my husband is still alive then I'm 100% sure that it's still going to happen. No question about it." She answered confidently. Takashi and Rei both laughed. "If there were Spartans in our time, Reis dad would be the leader Sev." Takashi told me. Francisco nodded. "Works for me." He stood up and stretched. "I'll do my best to get you all to that evac point. No matter what." He said grimly. We all looked at him and saw that he had a faraway look in his eyes. "The last time I was on a rescue mission was on the planet Thanatos. I was evacuating 400 people..." He stopped and remembered a different time. A fierce look formed on his face and his eyes flashed. "Painful story short my team was only able to evacuate 10 people. Not only did we fail miserably but we were ordered to leave with the civilians, even though we wanted to stay behind and fight. After we left the covenant glassed the planet. The planet had a population of 2 billion people. Including military personnel and the people we saved, only 2,000 people escaped." I looked at his hands and saw that they were balled up into fists. He was shaking with anger. He looked at Takashi. "I'm not going to let anything happen to your group Takashi. I'll die before that happens." Francisco said.

Takashi got up and put a hand on his shoulder. "You're a part of this group too Sev. And I'll die too before anything happens to any of us. Including you man." Takashi told the Spartan. "Did you think we didn't accept you Spartan?" Saeko asked him. Saya jumped up and bonked him on the head. "Moron! Sure at first you have us quite a scare but ME being a genius I knew you were ok." Sev rubbed his head and looked at her. "Yeah Sev. We'd be dead without you." Hirano added. "Wait another PLANET?" My mom asked confused. We all looked at her. Then we remembered that she didn't know a thing about Sev and laughed. "What's so funny?" My mom asked. Sev finally composed himself enough to answer her. "Ok. Sooooooo the thing is..."

Another chapter come and gone guys but this one was a blast for sure. I had a great time writing this one. As always lemme know y'alls think.

The Bounty Hunter


	9. Chapter 9

How'd y'all feel about that shadow monster fight? Lemme know! I know it was short but I just wanted to introduce it.

I don't own Highschool of the dead nor do I own Halo. Also don't own rise against.

Chapter 6

Evacuate the DEAD zone

SEVS POV PLANET THANATOS 2 YEARS BEFORE OPERATION TORPEDO

Another volley of cannon fire smashed into the library. The civilians still alive stayed down. "Those Wraiths are becoming a serious problem." Raymond said calmly. I nodded and charged my Spartan laser. I fired and the red beam smashed into one of the several Wraiths. It exploded and purple fire showered the area. "Direct hit sir." I said. He nodded. "Chelsea, how many alive?" He asked. "278 exactly sir. At this rate we won't get to the rendezvous point. What's the word from Kelly and Fred?" She asked.

I fired my laser again. "They're holding off a brute kill squad at the south entrance. When they come back we'll move out." Raymond told her. I threw my laser to the ground. "Boss. Do we have any spare jetpacks?" I asked. He looked at me. "Why?" He asked. I looked back to the alien tanks. "I'm going to buy us some time. The laser has no more juice." I said. He nodded and pointed to an emergency cache in the wall. It was placed there specifically to aid UNSC soldiers in the event that the winter contingency protocol was initiated on this planet. "Raymond he'll die." Chelsea protested. I unlocked the cache and grabbed a jetpack along with a M319 grenade launcher. "No faith Chel. I'm wounded." And with that I ran towards the window on the 3rd floor and jumped.

SEVS POV INSIDE HIRANOS HOME

I woke up to Zeke licking my face. At first I was startled, momentarily forgetting where I was. The reoccurring nightmare struck again. That was the 5th night in a row. Then in a second it all came back. Zeke whined and nibbled on my hand. "Bathroom?" I asked. His tail waged and he licked my hand. I smirked. "Ok boy c'mon." I said. I let him out and looked at the clock. 6:45. I sighed. Takashi said he wanted to be out of here before 8:00. "No time for a relaxing breakfast..." I muttered. I went to Takashi and Saeko. Last night they moved one of the futons into the living room so that they could sleep together. Lucky for me there was no funny business.

"Takashi. Saeko. Wake up." I said, gently shaking the couple. Saeko rolled on top of Takashi and muttered. "Jus a few more mins dad..." She slurred sleepily. I facepalmed. "C'mon guys. Wake up." I said a little louder. Takashi groaned and opened his eyes. He took in the sleeping form of Saeko on top of him and me looking at them grinning. He blushed and shook Saeko. "Hey wake up Saeko." Takashi said. Finally she awoke. It took a few seconds before she realized what was going on. She blushed and rolled off of him. I laughed. "Good morning. You're drooling." I said grinning. She hurriedly wiped her mouth. Takashi smiled and kissed her check. "Good morning. If you want a shower now's the time. Who knows when we'll get another chance." I told the teens. "I'll go first If you don't mind." Saeko said. Takashi nodded. "Sev, let's wake everyone up. What's the time?" Takashi asked. "Last I checked, quarter to 7." I answered. Takashi nodded. "I'll start heating the breakfast we made last night. Go wake the others yeah?" I nodded and Takashi went into the kitchen to get to work.

After everyone was awake, showered and, fed, we checked our supplies and weapons. With everything set we waited. It was 7:50 but we couldn't bring ourselves to leave just yet. A lot happened here in the last 2 days. Hell Hirano grew up in this house. He walked through the whole house slowly. He'd stop by a certain spot or pick something up with a nostalgic look. Then he'd smile and move away. He walked into his parents room. "I'm going to check on Hirano." I said. "I'll...go with you." Saya said. I was a little surprised at that but didn't question it.

We walked into the bedroom and found Hirano standing at the dresser. He was holding a picture in his hands. Saya and I walked over to him. Saya put a hand on his shoulder. "How are you?" She asked gently. He took a deep breath before putting the picture down. He didn't turn around but he put his hand on hers. "Right now? Not so good. I don't know why I thought we'd be able to stay here for a long time." Saya removed her hand and walked in front of him. She pushed him towards the bed and sat him down. She sat next to him on his right and I on his left. "I've lived here since I was 6. When people at school picked on me and made fun of me I'd always feel a lot better when I got home." He said looking at his feet. "Here I was safe from ridicule and torment. Here I was just Kohta. Not fatty, not otaku, not 4 eyes just...Kohta." Saya and I looked at each other. "This is my home and now because of Them and those bandits I have to leave. They are forcing me to leave my home and I can't do anything about it." He said quietly.

"When the EMP went off and we had to leave my home...I felt the same way." Saya said. "I didn't want to leave. I didn't get picked on at school or anything but I knew what most people would say behind my back. Sure I deserved it. I was quite the bitch to everyone. But if you ever need to talk...I'm here for you." The pinkette finished. Hirano nodded. I got up and walked to the dresser. I picked up the picture Hirano had been holding. It was a picture of Hirano and what looked to be his parents. "These your folks?" I asked looking back at him. The Boy nodded. "My dad's named Han. My mom's named Yuuki." I turned my attention back to the picture. Hirano definitely took after his minus the fact that his dad was slimmer. His mother was very pretty. In the picture she wore glasses like Hirano by more stylish. I chuckled as my heart grew heavy. "You should take this with you." I said. There was a brief moment of silence before he asked why. "I...I uh...can't remember what my family looked like." I said hesitantly. "Not my father, not my mother, not my sister...I can remember what they were like. How they acted and how they treated me but whenever I try and remember what they looked like..." I let my sentence trail off. My heart felt like it was made of stone, too heavy for my chest. I turned around, picture still in my hand and saw Rei standing in the doorway. Her eyes looked as if they were saying "I'm sorry". Saya looked at me sadly. "Sev..." She started. I tossed the picture to Hirano. "I've got to go suit up." I said as I walked into the hall. I walked through the door but Rei grabbed my arm. We stood in the middle of the hall where nobody could see us. She took hold of my right hand in both of hers. "I'm here ok." She said. I nodded. She pulled me close and kissed me. "Whenever you're ready...to talk about them. We'll all listen." She said. I smiled sadly at her. "I know...thanks." I said. She smiled at me and squeezed my hand.

REI'S POV CITY STREETS

It was late afternoon now. It was warm. About 23°C. The sky was partly cloudy. The breeze smelled of fresh rain. If we weren't actually running for our lives then I probably would have been able to pretend that I was just going for a walk with my friends on such a beautiful day. We hadn't seen any of Them all day. We also hadn't seen any bandits which was good news. I chuckled. Aside from my mom who was family, friends wasn't exactly the right word. Next to me on rear guard was my mom. I still couldn't believe that she was here. Alive and with us. Ahead of us in the middle was Hirano and Saya. The marksman had his rifle ready, constantly scanning all around us for danger. Saya was looking at a map with the most direct root from Hiranos home to the evac site. The school where the evac was taking place was also where Takashis mom taught at. Hopefully she was still alive. A few feet in front of those 2 was Shizuka, Rika, Alice, Saeko, and Zeke. Saeko had one hand on her sword. The other was holding Alice's hand. Rika was a trooper. Her wound hardly slowed her down although Shizuka constantly told her to slow down and not push herself. The sniper simply nodded but kept at the same pace. She was slightly sweating but didn't complain. About 6ft ahead of them was Takashi and Francisco. Takashi looked funny standing next to the 6ft5 armored giant. Friends wasn't the right word at all.

I looked at my mom and rolled my eyes. She was staring at Francisco curiously. "You should take a picture mom." I said. My mom blushed then turned to me. "I just find it hard to believe...that I find it hard to believe ya know? The dead have risen, there are terrible monsters running amok, both have a hankering for human flesh and, I can't believe that HE'S a super soldier from the future." My mom told me. Sev leaned down and whispered something to Takashi. Takashi chuckled and whispered something back and Francisco laughed. My mom looked confused. I chuckled. "Mom. He can hear you." I said. My mom looked at me, then back at Francisco. She leaned closer and whispered. "What does he have like super hearing or something?" She asked. "It's not super hearing but it's pretty close Mrs. Miyamoto." Sev said. I laughed and my mother looked like a tomato. After we composed ourselves my mother cleared her throat. "So Sev, how'd you end up as a Spartan?" She asked. All eyes fell on the Spartan. I nudged my mom with an elbow. "Bad question mom." I told her. "What?" She asked. "It's alright Rei." Said the Spartan. "I want you guys to know...but I'm going to skip over some things." Francisco said. "That's ok onee-chan." Said Alice.

"The day the covenant attacked my home planet, planet Meridia, started out like any other. My dad was home on military leave, he was a gunnery sergeant in the UNSC. My mom made breakfast and my sister was exited about a 2 week field trip." We turned a street corner and saw no threats. Francisco continued. "That night...my mom made our favorite food." He chuckled. "It was breaded chicken and honey baked beans with bacon in it. And lime soda." The way he spoke he sounded happy. I looked around and saw that, aside from Takashi and Hirano, everyone was watching him. "After dinner my friends Raymond and Chelsea came over. Raymond lived next door on my right and Chelsea on my left." Sev stopped talking as he scanned the rooftops. "That night my sister was going to show us some constellations with a telescope she bought." His voice cracked. "She had saved up for that telescope for a month." Then his voice became...angry. "Then the covenant came." Francisco said darkly. Suddenly one of Them shambled into the street from an alley. Almost too fast to see Francisco drew his combat knife and threw it. The blade connected with the side if its head with a sickening thump and the creature dropped instantly.

I looked at my mom as she looked on wide eyed. "It was all the way down the street." She said shocked. "And he threw the blade perfectly..." My mom said. Francisco and Takashi told us to hold as they walked further down the street to clear it. "He's a better fighter when he's angry." Rika said. My mom nodded. "It must have been part of the training." Saya started. "Hate them so it's easier to kill them." We nodded in agreement. The guys reached the body and the Spartan retrieved his blade. Deciding it was clear, they waved us over. "Let's let him finish his story. At least the parts that he wants to talk about." Alice said calmly. Then she looked at us. "We should just let him talk and try not to pry." Alice said. Saeko smiled at the child. "Of course little one." The little girl smiled at us. We crossed the street. "We'll make a left here. There should be a gas station along the way. We can break there." Saya announced. We nodded and kept walking. A few seconds passed before the soldier continued his story.

"As soon as my sister, my friends and, I stepped onto the roof we saw some buildings on fire. They were probably 2 miles away so at first we shrugged it off. But Chelsea had an extremely bad feeling that she'd been unable to shake all day." He paused. Then he chuckled. "Sorry. Anytime Chelsea had a bad feeling, shit would hit the fan. We learned to listen to those bad feelings. Even the adults." The Spartan sighed. "Then my father came running up the stairs with all the other adults. That was the first time I had ever seen him scared. He told us that we had to leave..." Again his voice failed him. For a few minutes he didn't speak. None of us said anything.

We saw the gas station. It was still a block away. The Spartan cleared his throat. "The covenant found us and killed our families. Raymond, Chelsea, and I were the only ones that didn't die. We were saved by some Spartans. Then everything took off from there. The UNSC adopted us. Then we trained until we got our armor. The only thing that kept us going was getting another chance at fighting and killing those bastards." Francisco took a deep breath to calm himself. "I went on my first mission when I was 13. After my first kill I knew that I couldn't stop until they were all dead...sorry Mrs. Miyamoto but I'm done talking about this." Francisco finished. My mom gripped my hand tightly. "Yes of course. Please forgive me I shouldn't have asked such a personal question." She said. Francisco nodded. We reached the gas station 5 minutes later. Nobody said a word.

"Ok. Sev, Saeko and, I will clear the inside. The rest of you keep watch." Takashi said. The samurai drew her sword. As they approached the front doors Takashi took point. When they got close enough the doors opened automatically. "They still have power." Takashi muttred. Then the trio disappeared inside. After a few minutes Saeko came back. "It's all clear. This place is also surprisingly untouched. There is plenty of food and water inside. The bathrooms are also working. But don't go into the backroom." She told us. We nodded and went inside. Aside from some blood on the wall there wasn't anything out of the ordinary here. Although we weren't presented the healthiest choice of food we found some sandwiches in the cold section. Then we discussed our next move. Fortunately there was a waiting area for people who would wait for their cars to be washed.

"Ok Saya, where's the next rest stop after this?" Takashi asked in between bites. "There is a clinic in a few kilometers that I think we should check out. Then if it's a bust we should head to Taiei shopping town. If we're lucky there might be survivors willing to give us shelter." Said the pinkete. We nodded. "What if they refuse to help us?" Rika asked. Saya shrugged. "Then we hole up in a building and continue in the morning." Saya replied. Takashi got up. "Ok. It's going to be dark soon. We'll stay here tonight ok. For now everyone just rest and I'll take first watch on the roof." We nodded and he grabbed some energy drinks and went into the back room. Everyone went back to eating and making small talk about our survival. I looked around and saw Francisco was standing by himself, gazing out the window. When we got here he had become quite. He ate by the window. I got up and pulled 2 strawberry sodas from the table.

SEVS POV THE GAS STATION

"Something on your mind?" I was startled out of my thoughts by Rei. I looked at her. She was smiling at me. She handed me a strawberry soda as she cracked her own. I smiled and took the drink. We looked out the window together just watching the wind flow through some trees across the street. "Once when I was feeling down...this guy I hardly knew came and talked to me. He had 2 strawberry sodas and, of all things, asked me about my parents." She said quietly. I smiled. "Was he good-looking?" I asked. She laughed. "Oh yeah. Guy was smoking. But that's not the point." She laced her fingers through mine. "He helped me. Then he helped bring meback my mom. I just want to know if I can help him?" She asked worried. I looked at her and saw that she looked genuinely concerned. Her eyes seemed to say "Let me in! I'll listen!" I sighed.

"I was just thinkingabout my old life. Most of my friends are dead. The ones who aren't probably think I'M dead...the only people left who care are some Spartan2s that I befriended." I said. My thoughts drifted to Kelly,Fred,and,Linda. I even thought of the legendary Master Chief. "One of the people who saved me became like an older sister to me. Her name is Kelly. Whenever she wasn't away on a mission she helped train me and my friends Chelsea and Raymond. Chel trained with Fred a lot. Raymond, the lucky bastard trained with the Master Chief." I said. Rei looked confused. "I'm sorry but you've never mentioned him before." She said. I nodded. "The Master Chief is the leader of the Spartans. Second to none. I once heard that he defeated a whole covenant battalion by himself. He's the guy who could arm wrestle a hunter and win. Think of the god of war and you still wouldn't get an accurate comparison." I told her. Rei looked shocked. "Damn. Sounds like he's invincible." She said. I nodded. "Like I said Raymond was trained by him whenever the Chief had some downtime. Kelly was the fastest. Fortunately for us, this armor makes me faster than her. I could hardly ever beat her in a sparring match however. Never will now. Fred,in my opinion, is the bravest. He always puts others before himself too. That and he's practically a guru of cqc. From shotguns to blades. He even stood toe to toe with 2 brutes with only his fists." I took another of my soda.

"I trained for so long...now I can't even finish what I started." I confessed. I looked at Rei and saw that she seemed sad. "I didn't realize that you felt that way." She said as she let go of my hand. Then it hit me that she might think that I don't want to be here with them. I facepalmed myself and put my soda down. I took a quick glance at the others to make sure they weren't watching us. They weren't so I grabbed both her hands and led her behind an aisle. She seemed shocked. "What are you-mmmph!" I cut her off by kissing her. After a second she kissed me back. For a few seconds we just kissed. I don't think I'll ever get tired of kissing her. I pulled away. "I may be out of that fight. But NOTHING is going to keep me from fighting this one. And no one is going to keep me from protecting you or the others." She made a slight whimpering sound like something inside her just melted. Then she kissed me again. "You're both just so adorable." Shizuka squealed quietly. We froze as she ran up and hugged us both. "It's obvious you want to keep this a secret so I'm only going to tell Rika k." And with that she released us and left. Rei looked utterly confused as to what just happened. She looked at and I grinned. "No place else I'd rather be." I told her. She smiled. "You read my mind." She said as she walked away. She put a little swing in her hips as she left. "Tease." I muttered red faced.

We left the gas station the next day at about 9:00 and kept walking. Everyone was in a pretty good mood. We had eaten well and Rei had gotten me out of my pool of sorrow. An hour passed. We saw more and more undead but nothing too serious. The increasing number was worrying me though. Then Rika collapsed. "Rika!" Shizuka said as she tried to pick up her lover. Unfortunately she said that a little loudly and about 10 of Them turned in our direction. "Shit. Saeko and Sev. Take em." Takashi said. We nodded. We rushed Them. "Saeko, get right behind me and follow my lead." I said as I drew my blade. "Watch yourself." She said as she did the same. "Likewise." I said moving in.

Fighting with the samurai was quite an experience. It was like we were reading each others minds. I stabbed one undead and ducked as Saeko swung her sword over me in a steel arc of death, successfully decapitating 3 in row. I sprung forward at the next one and superman punched it in the face. The creatures head caved in like an asteroid hit it. Blood exploded from its face as it flew backwards. "Kneel!" Saeko said. I did and she used my back as a spring board. I launched her as lightly as I could and she flew at the remaining 5 enemies. When she landed 2 undead fell dead behind her. The last 3 of Them surged forward. In a flash I appeared In between the the creatures and many friend. "Not happening." I said as I threw a powerful round house kick. My kick tore through the undead and they went flying in several different directions, they landed hard and didn't get up.

I turned around. "Nice job Saeko." I said. When I saw the girl still on the ground on one knee I almost had a panic attack. I rushed to her side. "Are you hurt? Were you bitten?" I questioned worried. She shook her head. "No just...give me a sec ok." She said. I nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. I looked at her face and saw that she was grinning. At first I was confused. Why the hell Is she smiling? Then I looked around the bodies and it hit me. She digs this. She enjoys fighting. She finally noticed me staring and the grin on her face disappeared. She looked away in shame. "I'm sorry. You must think I'm some sort of freak." She told me. I noticed the fear in her voice. She must not let the others see her like this. Maybe Takashi knows about this. I can't judge her though. "I'd be a hypocrite if I said that I've never smiled fighting before." The girl looked up at me. "Don't worry. This stays between us. I swear...does Takashi ?" I asked. She nodded. "He knows the whole story." Saeko responded. I nodded. "If you ever want to talk about it..." I let my sentence trail off as I stood. I extended a hand to her. She nodded and took my hand. "Thank you Sev. I have some questions for you as well...about your experiences...if you don't mind." I shook my head. "Of course not. We'll talk when we have some time to breath." She smiled and we jogged back to the others.

"God what a rookie mistake!" Rika said for the 10th time. It had been about an hour since that little scare in the street. What caused Rika to fall was simple. She tripped. Yup. I laughed again. "You've got a hole in your leg. It's ok." I told her. The others agreed. "Yeah it happens. And we made it out ok so no harm done." Takashi told her. She blushed again. "How much farther Saya?" Rika asked. "Half a kilometer." she responded. I looked around and saw no threats. I couldn't shake that someone was watching us though. Something felt wrong. "Hold." I said. We all stopped. "What's the matter?" Hirano asked me. I looked at my radar and saw several red blips to the right. "Everyone into that building!" I said. We all moved into a building on our left. Suddenly Shinji and a few others appeared in the street and some windows in the building. "Fuck! Where's Alice?" Kiriko said suddenly. "I'm right here." The little girl said. We all sighed in relief...too soon. I looked at my radar and saw more behind us.

"How did they find us." I said as I handed out all of the comms. Takashi,Hirano,Rika,Saeko,Rei and, Kiriko all put on the small devices. "Oh I wish I knew!" Shizuka exclaimed. "Doesn't matter now. Mrs. Miyamoto, know how to use this?" Takashi asked, handing her one of the G36C smgs. She nodded grimly. "No avoiding them then? The ex police woman asked? "Bring out the RPGS!" Shinji yelled. I shook my head. "In another 10 seconds we'll have 6 more behind us." I told her. "RPGS in the windows across the way." Hirano said. Then I heard several moans behind us. "Shit." I said as I slowly turned around. My eyes widened as I took in the sight. Then several things happened almost at once. First I saw about 15 undead shuffling us. Then I saw another one of those shadow monsters gazing at us casually. That's when the bandits burst into the room. "There!" One shouted. We aimed our weapons but then the shadow monster appeared in front of the man and ripped out his throat. The bandits opened fire on the creature, effectively killing the lead bandit. The monster went to attack but gunfire exploded above us as some bandits fired at the undead in the room. The shadow monster crumpled under the combined firepower and dropped dead.

"NOW!" I yelled. I jumped up and opened fire on the bandits in the street. My shields held but even at double the regular shield strength of a normal Spartan3, they would only hold for so long. Takashi and Kiriko started shooting at the men and monsters in the room behind me. There was about 10 men in the street, Shinji among them. He smiled maliciously at me before he called out to his men. "RPGS! End those bastards!" He said. They hesitated and looked at each other. "What about our guys inside?!" Called out one of the RPG guys. "WHAT?!" Shinji screamed at them. I killed 4 bandits before the others decided to take cover. Turning around I began firing at the undead and the men in the room. Suddenly more undead poured into the room(literally)from a hole in the ceiling. "What the fuck?!" I heard Rika and Saya yell over the gunshots.

I dropped as my shields almost depleted entirely. The bandits started shooting at the undead getting up from their fall. Still there was too many. "We need to get the fuck out of here!" Hirano yelled. I nodded and popped out of cover to fire at the bandits in the street. I didn't see Shinji and that worried me. "GET AWAY!" Alice screamed. My blood felt like ice as I turned to see Alice running from one of Them that wasn't killed. It was surprisingly fast but couldn't catch the girl. She ran and Zeke followed close behind. "PROTECT ALICE!" Takashi roared as he opened fire with his AA12. I brought up my rifle to fire when suddenly the whole building shook. I looked up and saw a piece of rubble headed my way. "AH FUCK!" I said. I dropped my weapon and caught the slab of death before it crushed me by surprise. "Streets clear!" Hirano called out. "HELP ME!" I spun around just in time to see Shinji and one of his men chasing Alice up a flight of stairs. "ALICE!" I cried out. Rage flowed through me. I yelled defiantly and threw the rubble at the undead closing in.

For a second everything got real quiet. I looked around and saw a lot of death. The street was clear but the RPGS had moved to the 4th for of the building across the street. I looked at my friends and saw that, aside from some blood and a wild look in there eyes, they were alive and unharmed...physically anyway. "Everyone! Get up and get out of the building before the RPGS finish the job!" I ordered as I picked up my G36C. Takashi nodded. "Bring her back safe ok." He told me. I nodded. I turned to Rei. "Be safe." I said. Then I sprinted up the stairs Alice ran through. "You too Francisco!" She called out after me.

I flew up the stairs as fast as I could without my armor dislocating my legs. "ALICE! MY BABY!" The memory of my mission on Thanatos surged through my mind. The mothers pained voice. Her little hand. I gritted my teeth. "NOT AGAIN." I muttred angrily. I finally saw Shinji. He ran through a door on the 4th floor. 5 seconds later i burst through the door. "Sev! It's Rika, we're outside. Rei and Saeko are going to take down those RPGS but-" She was cut off by the sound of rockets taking flight. They slammed into the building again and again the structure shook. "Fuck. I count 6 RPGS Sev. Find Alice fast and get out!" Rika said. "Roger. I'm close." I looked around and saw I was in a floor full of cubicles. The was trashed but there weren't any undead close by. "What's with all the fucking office buildings?!" I thought out loud. I spotted Shinji and took off after him. His bandit partner spun around and started firing. I aimed and pulled the trigger. The click that followed didn't help my situation. "SERIOUSLY?!" The bandit kept firing and I dropped. I discarded the empty magazine and put it on my softcase. "Of all the FUCKING times." I muttered as I slammed a fresh mag into the weapon. I jumped and aimed. An explosion sent me flying to the right. I landed and rolled. I turned around and saw that I almost fell out the building. The bandit wasn't so lucky. He was barbecued and in several pieces. I shook my head and stood up. "Onee-chan!" I turned toward the sound and saw Alice and Zeke running right at me. I smiled. "Hey kid. You ok?" I asked. She nodded. "That man tried to get me but he fell through the floor. I ran back this way with Zeke." She explained. The dog barked in agreement. Suddenly the building wobbled. "Sev get out!" Rika yelled. I scooped up the girl and the dog. She took Zeke and I started running.

I was running as fast as I could through the collapsing building. Alice clung to me as tightly as she could with one arm, with the other she held onto her trusty dog Zeke. "Francisco onee-chan won't drop us, Francisco onee-chan won't drop us, Francisco onee-chan won't drop us." Through all the chaos and gunshots I heard her whispering that over and over again like a mantra, not only to calm the dog but to reassure herself as well. Careful not to hurt her I strengthened my grip as I weaved through the maze of cubicles. Sure with my armour I could run straight through the desks but I didn't want to risk hurting the pink haired girl or the brave pup. "Spartan you have to find an exit NOW!" Rika screamed into her comm. "I'm almost out!" I yelled back. I saw a busted window and made a hard right. Luck was on my side as the maze opened up into a straight away. "Alice sweetie hold on tight and don't open your eyes!" I said as I charged to the window at top speed. Rika yelled "Saeko kill that fucker!" "On it." The samurai replied as calmly as she could. She didn't make it in time as I saw the rocket flying right at me. "NO DAMN IT!" Screamed Saeko as she watched in horror. "Hold on tight kid." I said as I dove for the window.

The rocket missed us by a hair but the resulting explosion propelled us forward. I looked forward and saw that I was headed straight for a giant window on the 3rd floor. I braced and held Alice and Zeke closer. I did my best to roll mid air so I'd land on my back. We smashed through the window and slid to a stop. For a few seconds we just laid there. I vaguely heard automatic gunfire but didn't move. Alice was wide eyed but said nothing. I was pretty sure that I was hyperventilating or at least close to that point. "Sev...SEV!...ANSWER ME!" Rika cried desperately. "Francisco are you 3 ok?" Rei asked scared. I heard footsteps coming from the stairwell. Why wasn't my voice working. Rika and Rei kept asking me to respond. Then Takashi and Hirano started yelling out to me over the comms. I closed my eyes and suddenly was back on Thanatos. The dead childs hand sticking out of a toppled wall at a destroyed school. Her mother clawing desperately at the rubble trying to dig up her dead daughter. Then the covenant closed in and we had to drag her away. She was one of the 10 people who survived. I heard a rumor that she managed to enlist as a combat medic. I opened my eyes. Why are those memories coming to now?

I sat up with Alice and Zeke still my arms. "3rd floor. No harm." Was all I said. I looked at the little girl and saw her still clutching to me tightly. Her eyes were shut tightly. I took off my helmet and stroked the girls hair. "Are we dead?" She asked me. I chuckled. "No Alice. We're ok." I said. The pained screams of the mother on rang through my head. "MY BABY! ALICE MY BABY!" She screamed desperately. Her voice was shrill and high pitched. I almost wasn't able to understand her...almost. That was the first and only time I cried in the field. It took Chelsea, Raymond and, Kelly to pull me away from the incoming covenant. "Are we dead?" Alice asked me. I took off my helmet and looked down at her. She had her eyes shut tightly and was breathing heavy. I laughed, which felt good. "No kid. We're fine." I said, my voice was brittle though.

She opened her eyes and looked at me. She smiled. "Don't be sad. Like you said, we're ok." Alice told me. She sounded like she was on the verge of tears but was acting bravely. I nodded. Afraid that my voice would betray me again. Suddenly Saeko and Rei we're in the room followed by the rest of our friends. Alice released me and ran to the others. Saya scooped the girl up and cried happily. She fell to her knees, tears of joy falling from her face. "Oh munchkin! I'm so glad you're ok." Saya sobbed. The group was focused on the girl. All I could do sit there. Afraid that if I spoke i'd lose it. All I could hear was the mother scream for her dead child. Why was that hitting me again. It happened when I was 15. "Since we're in such a nice apartment and since Shinji couldn't help but draw Them away by shooting like a mad man. We'll stay here tonight. And with that, everyone except Rei went to get situated. Saya and the now crying Alice went into the living room. I was still unable to move. Get out of my head.

The memories flowed freely despite my best efforts to suppress them. Rei knelt down next to me. I was still falling down the rabbit hole. "Francisco? What's wrong?" Rei asked me worried. I looked at her. "I...I..." My words still didn't work. My face twisted up in pain. I sat up against the wall. "I thought...wouldn't save her..." Rei looked at me confused for a second. Then she looked a little shocked. "Your remembering your past again aren't you..." She sat next to me and held me. I buried my face into her and the dam finally broke. Not just Thanatos but the deaths of my family. The deaths of friends. The death of my sister. The war. The overwhelming pressure. All the people I failed to save. It all suddenly became too much. I cried. It had been waiting a long time but now grief got its due. Rei just held me and stroked my short hair. "Get it all out. No one else but me is in here." Rei said in a soothing voice. For the next 30 minutes I did just that. All my anger and frustration slowly faded away. Finally I stopped and for the next few hours we just sat there. Rei said nothing. She just stroked my hair. "I'm sorry Rei...i'm just tired." I said. The brunette simply nodded. I laughed wearily. "I'm such a push over." I said.

She raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?" Rei asked. I shook my head. "I'm probably the only Spartan to cry in a civilians arms in the history of everything." I told her. "If the others saw me...i'm just glad they didn't." I said looking away. She put a hand on my face and faced me towards her. "Remember what you told Alice?" She asked. My mind drifted to the little girl on Thanatos. "Nothing is going to hurt you while i'm around kid. I swear." That's what I told her. 3 hours later she died. Then I remembered what she was talking about. The first night I met up with Takashi and the others. The words my father told me. The same words I passed on to the brave girl and her dog. The memory brought me some peace of mind. I nodded. "Your father would be so proud of you Francisco." Rei said. "You think so?" I asked. She smiled brightly at me. "I know so." She assured me. "Dinner!" Shizuka called out. Rei stood up. "C'mon handsome. Let's go eat." She said. I closed my and smiled. Maybe I didn't save those people. But I sure as hell will save my new people. I stood and followed her into the rest of the apartment.

Holy shit it just got really real. As always thank you for reading my story.

Lemme know what y'all think. Also I figured that even Spartans cry. We all know the Chief was crying when Cortana "died".

The bounty Hunter.


	10. Chapter 10

I'm hyped let's do this. Got a surprise for y'all.

Disclaimer I don't own Highschool of the dead nor do I own anything halo. Also don't own converse or under armour or their products.

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><p>Chapter 7<p>

Mall of the DEAD (Frank who)

Old bonds stay strong

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><p>REIS POV 3RD STORY 3 BEDROOM APT<p>

I yawned and stretched. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as I looked around. It was 8:45 in the morning and everyone was still asleep. The night before we cleared the apartment but decided to all sleep in the living room. Takashi wanted to stay up and keep watch but Francisco told him that he'd do it. After much discussion Takashi finally relented but a watch was set up. Francisco would take first watch. Then Takashi followed by my mom then finally Saeko. I sighed when I saw Francisco sipping on what smelled like coffee. It would explain the American style beds in the bedrooms and the spare futons under them. An American family must've lived here but all the pictures were gone.

"You know...this stuff isn't half bad. It gives you quite a jump." Francisco said without looking at me. "I wish that there was something to improve the flavor though." He took another sip. "Why didn't you wake Takashi?" I asked him. "As a Spartan I've been trained to go days without sleep. Plus you were all exhausted after what happened." I looked around to see if anyone else was awake. They weren't. I got up and stretched again. "I'll be right back." I told him. He nodded and continued to look through the window. The curtains were closed just enough so that he only had to peek through a crack. I guess he could see all he needed to see because he didn't adjust them at all.

I went to the restroom. When I came back everyone except Francisco was still dead to the world. I smiled as I casually, but quietly, walked over to him and kissed his cheek. "Don't over do it ok. We need you at your best. Also good morning." I said. He smiled. "Good morning to you as well." Francisco said. "So why didn't you wake the others?" I asked again. He looked at me then to the others. He sighed then looked back at me. "I didn't wake Takashi because, like I said, he was exhausted. And like I said, I can go a very long time without sleep. But truthfully...the past week I've been having the same nightmare. Yeah. Spartans get those too..." He looked to the others again. "Of what?" I asked. "Of my missions on Thanatos. Other things too but mostly that. At first the job was defend the planet and kill the invaders. But after 9 days of fighting it became clear that Thanatos was lost. It was like for every 100 aliens I killed, 200 would replace them." Francisco said.

"Before my orders changed I killed almost...I killed a lot of covies." I swallowed. He might not want to talk about that. "Guess you aren't called a Spartan for nothing." I said. He finished his coffee. "In the end I killed...a large amount of covenant troops. I used pistols, rifles, rocket launchers, and pretty much threw rocks at times." He frowned. "Not like it mattered. They killed almost everyone anyways." He sighed and walked into the kitchen. He rinsed out his cup then grabbed the sponge and the soap, washed it and rinsed it out again. He placed it back in the cupboard. "I can't seem to shake those memories. I should be passed that by now. That happened when I was 15." He said frustrated. "15? Wow...you were just a kid." I said shocked. He chuckled. "That sounds so weird. I feel like I've been an adult since I was 6 years old." Francisco said. I nodded.

"When I was 15 I was a freshman in high school. I remember being more worried about what classes I wanted to take. What clubs I'd join. Gossip and pretty much regular teenage things." I said. He chuckled. "Really?" Francisco asked me grinning. I smiled. "Don't make fun of me! Honest that's what we worried about in high school. Ugh and if you had acne or were uncool it was over." I said jokingly. He laughed again. "The augmentations we were given prevented most puberty issues. So I missed out on most of that." He said triumphantly. I rolled my eyes grinning. "Oh good cause the last thing your handsome face needs is a gross pimple." I said. "Handsome huh?" He asked as he got closer. I shot a glance at the others. The only one awake was Shizuka and she was grinning madly. I looked back to Francisco and winked. "Good morning Shizuka." I said. She sat up frustrated and crossed her arms. "Oh you're no fun Rei! It was getting good!" She said. Francisco laughed as I facepalmed.

The others woke up shortly after that. After the supposed watchmen chastised the Spartan half heartedly, we all got into the morning routine of planning out the day, eating breakfast and enjoying what little down time we had. The whole while Shizuka and Rika teased Francisco and I slyly, but relentlessly. Fortunately the others didn't notice which was a price worth paying. I still need some time before I let him in fully. It's not that I'm ashamed. Who wouldn't want a super powerful, highly intelligent, handsome, charismatic, and funny guy like Francisco. I just still need to let Hisashi go. The short lived rivalry between Saeko and I over Takashi was over. I thought that I wanted him back. That life put him in my path again so that I could fulfill the promise of marriage that we made so long ago. I realize now that I was wrong. I also need to except the fact that, in this new world, people will die even more often than in the last. Francisco is a soldier trained to save everyone, no matter the cost. It very well might cost him his life. Although I'm not ok with it, I'll do my best to except that. Ugh this sounds so easy in my head.

"Guys I fucked up." Saya announced. We stopped our small talk. "The clinic is past the mall, not before." She said. "Oh that's not so bad." Saeko said. "I thought you were going to say that we've been going in the wrong direction." Rika said. Francisco nodded. "No that much I'm positive about. The clinic is a little farther past the mall. Actually there so close together that it's not even worth staying the night there." She finished as she rolled up the map. Takashi nodded. "Ok then. If that's all then we'll leave at 10:00 which is in half an hour. I'm going to make sure that the way down is clear." He said getting up. Francisco got up as well. "I'll go with you." Takashi nodded. "Ok then. Sev and I will clear the way." Takashi said. "Just be careful." Rika said. "Always." Francisco said. Takashi grabbed his bat. "Let's try for stealth." He told the Spartan. Francisco nodded and unsheathed his combat knife. Saeko kissed him and Francisco brushed his hand against mine as he walked to the door. Respecting the fact that I still wanted to keep things under wraps. I smiled. Not even Shizuka saw that. Francisco gave Rika a comm link and they left. Rika turned to face us. "You heard the man. Let's pack it up and be ready." We nodded and got to work.

We packed quickly. Although we've been at this for like 9 days, we've gotten pretty good at moving around. Hirano did an ammo count and happily stated that we had more than enough to make it from here to the mall. He then excused himself to go the restroom. After that we checked food and water. Francisco and Takashi came back 5 minutes before we were to move out but they didn't come back alone. "Place is clear. Also found 3 survivors." Takashi said as 2 women and a man walked girls looked identical, practically twins. Both were around my age but were as tall as Saeko. They were both very pretty, with straight shoulder length black hair. One wore glasses and a bulletproof vest. She had blue jeans on and wore an orange tee shirt with a black long sleeved under armor like shirt. She was wearing black converse chucks. A 1911 handgun was holstered on her right thigh.

The other didn't have glasses but essentially had the same gear on. Except her tee was purple and her chucks had Pikachu on the the left side. She had 2 glocks instead of one 1911. The last was a black man who was probably in his mid 20s. He was wearing a black military rig with with a combat knife on his right shoulder. He had dreadlocks but they were in a ponytail. He was as tall as Francisco with rippling muscles. He wore black cargo pants with combat boots. His weapon was an MP5. All 3 were wearing military type gloves and had single strap backpacks.

They all bowed. "Thanks for letting us travel with you." The trio said in unison. On the back of the mans rig was BLACKWATER in big, white, bold letters. They stood up straight. "Allow me to introduce ourselves." The one wearing glasses started. But she looked past us when Hirano walked in and her jaw dropped. The other 2 did the same. The chubby teen stopped dead in his tracks. "Kohta?" She choked. Thoroughly confused we turned to Hirano. The boy looked shocked. "Misaki?" He then looked at the others. "Yumi? Mr. Cameron? Is that really you?" The other girl looked like water works were on the way too. The man however was grinning like crazy. "I knew it'd take more than zombies to kill you Kohta." Mr. Cameron said. The 2 girls tackled Hirano. "KOHTA!" They both squealed with joy. Mr. Cameron laughed with his arms crossed. The girls had Hirano sandwiched in between them. His face was cherry red as he was trapped between there(large)chests. Ok. Super confused now. "Ummmm so you guys know Hirano?" Takashi asked. Saya looked a little pissed. Everyone watched the reunion happily. Francisco however stared at Mr. Cameron. His face was hidden under his helmet but something was bothering him. He hadn't said a word since they got back.

Mr. Cameron nodded. "Yeah. Met Kohta stateside about a year ago." Mr. Cameron said. He extended his hand. "My name is Cameron. Raymond Cameron. Either one is fine with me. So is Ray." Francisco flinched. Ok something is definitely wrong with him. Takashi shook his hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Takashi Komuro." The teen said. Raymond turned to the girls. "The one wearing the glasses is Misaki. The other one is Yumi. The Toriyama twins. They met when they learned about weapons stateside. I taught the girls. Old Man Marv taught Hirano." Raymond told us. "We thought that you were dead Kohta." Misaki said as they all stood. "Yeah we called but you never answered. We assumed the worst." Yumi said.

Hirano facepalmed. "I left my phone at home. When I got back the EMP had already gone off so my phone was fried. I'm glad you're all ok though." He said happily. Introductions were made all around. Then we told them about the evac. "Ok then. Who's leading." Raymond asked. "That would be Takashi." Rika said. Raymond and the girls nodded. Misaki turned to Takashi. "Ok. Your group. Your rules." She said. Raymond stepped forward. "Yeah man. We'll follow your lead. If Kohta trusts you we do too. If you'll let us join the crew." He said. "We won't let you down." Yumi added. Takashi smiled. "Fuck yeah! Any friend of Hirano is a friend of mine any day." We all nodded. Raymond smiled. "Thank you. We're ready to move on your go."

After we made sure they weren't hurting on supplies, we set off. On the way we told them more about the evacuation at the school and our few pit stops along the way. The formation of our group was different now. At the front now was Takashi, Raymond and, Zeke. Behind them was Misaki, Yumi, and Saeko. Then it was Rika, Shizuka, Alice, Saya and, Hirano. The twin sisters stayed a little closer to Hirano as they were chatting quietly. Saya, of course, was rude to the twins but they brushed it off. Behind them was my mom, Francisco and, I. I turned to Francisco. For the last 5 hours, ever since the apartment where he introduced himself, he had been really quite. He also hadn't stopped staring at Raymond. I nudged him. "What's wrong?" I asked. He remained silent. "Francisco?" I asked. This time he looked at me. "I'm sorry. Nothing's wrong." The Spartan told me. He sounded strange. "Just spill it kid. She won't stop until you talk to her." My mom said. She sounded worried too though. Francisco looked at my mom, then to me. "...later...let's talk when we get to the mall." He said. I nodded. Suddenly something clicked. The mans name is Raymond. Like Franciscos friend from the future. Maybe there are some similarities between the 2. "Ok. When we get to the mall then yeah?" I asked. He nodded. "I'm going to talk to the new members. I'll be back." My mom and Francisco nodded and I jogged to the others.

"And that's what happened." Hirano said. He was now standing next to the twins. Like Hirano, they too were scanning the area like hawks. Checking for danger everywhere. "Wow Kohta. You guys have been fighting like crazy. This Shinji guy sounds like a real issue." Misaki said. "Don't forget the monsters that are appearing now. The giant one needs a name." Yumi said. "I was thinking Tank or Goliath. Maybe Titan?" Hirano suggested. The twins both nodded. "You 3 are hitting it off." I said as I walked next to them. "Oh hey Rei. Want to walk with us for a bit?" Hirano asked. The twins smiled at me. "If you 3 don't mind." I said. "Of course not." Yumi said. "Thanks. I just wanted to learn more about you. I hope that's not to forward." I said. The girls chuckled. "Of course not. What would you like to know?" Yumi asked me. "Why don't you just fill us in on what happened to you when this all started?" I asked. Hirano nodded. "Yeah that should be interesting." Rika commented. Even my mom and Francisco got closer.

"The day this all started was the same day Mr. Cameron was flying in. We wanted to pick him up so our parents let us skip school. We had to drive our car onto a ferry and everything." Misaki smiled at the memory. "Anyways when we got there we drove our car into a private hangar. Mr. Cameron had some gear with him so that's why we had to bring the car." The teen told us. Rika raised her hand. "I'm going out on a limb here and guessing that you're wearing said gear." Misaki nodded. "Yup. We were going to take a...pre test so to speak. When the year was over and since we were going to graduate early, we both were going to join Blackwater." She turned to Hirano. "Did you ever make up your mind about that?" She asked him. "Wait, Hirano was offered a spot in Blackwater?" Saya asked. Both twins nodded. "Although the old man wasn't in Blackwater anymore. The company still relied on him for any recruits. At least according to Mr. Cameron." Yumi said. I pictured Hirano fighting in the middle east or somewhere in South America. Hirano chuckled. "Actually...the morning of the end. I decided that I was going to join." Hirano confessed. Holy shit. Hirano was going to join a private military company.

The twins smiled sadly. "It's a shame the world went to hell first." Hirano said. We all nodded. Yumi picked up the story. "Anyways Mr. Cameron was given permission from the government to bring the stuff. Our cousin is an officer in the Prefectural police. First squadron. With his good word Mr. Cameron was trusted enough to bring the weapons into the city." Yumi said. "It wasn't until we got back to the mainland that things seemed...what's the word..." Yumi looked at her sister. "Fucked?" She asked. Misaki nodded. "Like I said." Yumi said turning back to me. "Fucked. When we got home our parents were blowing up our cells. Finally I answered. My mom and dad worked at the same hospital. They were holed up in a janitors backroom. They told us that they were both already..." Yumi faltered. Misaki put a hand on her sisters shoulder. "It's ok. I'll finish." Yumi nodded. Misaki continued. "As you can probably guess...our parents were both bit. They told us that they loved us and were proud. They also told us to keep a lookout for our cousin since he was our only family left. Then they asked to speak to Mr. Cameron. Our father put him in charge of our safety. Then they said to survive. We tired getting a hold of our cousin but his phone kept dropping the calls. After that we stayed at our apartment on the floor beneath were you all stayed." Misaki took a drink from her water bottle. "We only left to get supplies or not go stir crazy. Mr. Cameron was still training us. Only this time it was against a different enemy under different circumstances. Yesterday we were out getting food. We were about a kilometer away when we heard the fighting and the explosions. We rushed back but by then the fight was over. When we got back in we heard you all upstairs. We decided to wait in the lobbyfor you guys. That's when Takashi and Sev found us. And here we are now." Misaki finished. Holy hell. These girls are tough for sure. Sounds like they went through a lot too. "All that's left is to find our cousin." Misaki said.

I glanced at Rika. She told us what happened to her partner. At least that he died anyways. She couldn't really talk about how it happened. She looked nervous. Almost like she was scared to ask what the name of the twins cousin is. I don't blame her. Lucky for her, the original group picked up on it and didn't bring up that Rika was in the same squad. "Knowing cousin Jim, he's probably kicking all kinds of ass." Yumi said smiling. Rika looked slightly relived. Her partner was named Tajima, not Jim. "Or he's hitting on his partner again. You know how Tajima is." Misaki said. Rika paled instantly. Yumi laughed. "Yeah you're probably right." She told her sister. I looked at Rika again. She was sweating. That's not a good sign. Judging from how sick Rika looks...Francisco turned around, his shotgun raised. My mom raised her spear. "What's the matter?" She asked the Spartan. "I just got a contact on my radar." He replied. The sun was still high in the sky so it probably wasn't a shadow monster. "What ever it is, it's getting close." Francisco said. We all got ready. Suddenly Francisco wavered. "No..." He whispered. He dug into his softcase and pulled out a small chip and a comm link. He walked quickly to Saya and stuck the chip on her shirt then he gave Rika a comm link. He turned back to Saya. "This is a tracking device. You'll come up on my HUD no matter where you are." He sounded nervous. "Get to the mall. Don't stop until you get there ok." He said. "Why does it sound like you aren't coming?" I asked. He turned and hugged me. Ok now I'm officially freaked out. "All of you have to run. As fast as you can." Francisco said. Then we heard something yelling in the distance. Francisco let me go and handed everything except his shotgun and shells to me. "They followed me here." He said. Raymond stepped forward. "You heard him. We have to go." Raymond said. Takashi nodded. "Rei. We have to leave." Takashi told me. Then he turned to Francisco. "Is it the covenant?" He asked. Francisco nodded. "Question. What's the covenant?" Misaki asked.

Suddenly a window in the building down the street exploded and a giant beast landed about a hundred yards away. It looked like a giant gorilla with long floppy ears. It was bleeding, probably from another fight. It also had on a helmet and some sort of exo suit thing on. It zeroed in on Francisco immediately. "Me Pluton! Kill Spartan!" It said. Francisco turned to the rest of us. "Why are y'all still here?! Run!" Pluton raised his arm. There was a gun like gauntlet on his wrist. A light began to shine as the brute roared. But suddenly the light vanished. Then the beast exploded. Pluton flew high into the sky. For a few seconds we stood still. "He's not dead." Francisco said. And he was right. The brute crashed back down. Now wearing nothing, the brute stood uneasily. The gun on its wrist was gone, as was the metal apparatus it was wearing. That didn't seem to discourage it though. "Leave. Now." Francisco said. Then he rushed the alien. Pluton charged to meet him. "Let's just shoot it!" Raymond said. Then we heard Francisco blasting away. Pluton just kept rushing him. The shells doing no damage. Raymond paled. "Never mind." He said. Then we turned and ran. As we ran we called out to the Spartan. "Be careful!" I said. "kick his ass!" Takashi yelled. "Don't die!" Saya said. Then we turned a corner and kept running. Saeko had picked up Alice and we started sprinting. After about 10 minutes of running and shooting through Them, we finally saw the mall in the distance. Then Alice yelled. "Where's Zeke?!" I turned around and saw the small dog running back the way we came.

SEVS POV CITY HALL PLAZA

I knew I was fucked when he opened his mouth and shot a purple ball of plasma at me. I rolled left and dodged it. The blast flew into a car and exploded. "Well that's new." I muttered. Pluton roared and charged. For a brute he was incredibly fast. He threw a right cross but I ducked and shoved my M45 in his throat. He was faster however and jumped back as I pulled the trigger. I started firing like crazy but he just kept dodging my shots. I must have hurt him or else he'd just take it again. Then I ran out of ammo. Out of options I unsheathed my blade and dropped my shotgun.

I'm going to have to use the speed boost from the armor or else I'm dead. I learned a lot from fighting the muscle monster. Last time it was instinct. I saved Rika but I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and that almost cost me. But now I have a better understanding of how it works. I just need to be careful. I yelled defiantly and charged. The brute did the same. Again he fired a plasma blast from his mouth. I jumped over it but he jumped too. He threw another punch, knowing I wouldn't be able to move out of the way midair. What's the point of augmented strength if I don't use it right? I met his fist with mine. The force from our punch sent a shockwave out, shattering some windows. Pain shot through my arm but I ignored it. "C'MON!" I yelled.

As we dropped we exchanged blows. I'd punch him in the face and he'd answer with a knee to the stomach but I'd barely block it. Lucky for me I was still faster so I began to throw a flurry of punches, kicks and, slices from my knife. We landed and I pressed the attack. He was tiring quickly. He must have just fought something else before finding us. He was still very fast though but he was already injured. Suddenly I swung my blade but the brute caught my arm. "Shit!" I said. Then he punched me right in the stomach. The pain was so bad my mind almost couldn't register it. Air exploded from my lungs and I flew into and through a tree. The tree fell and landed 5 feet on my right. I was struggling to get air. I tried to sit up but then I was kicked into the air. I flew straight up about 3 stories. I looked at my shields and saw a sliver remaining. My knife was gone. I looked down just in time to see a purple blast hit me right in the chest. It burned and I almost lost consciousness. The brute just watched as I came flying back down. Right before I hit the ground he shoulder charged and sent me soaring again. My shields were spent and I spiraled into a window. I landed right on my face and slid to a stop. Faintly I could hear Pluton roar in triumph. Probably thinking about how awesome that combo attack was.

I struggled but stood. I looked at my armor and saw cracks in the chest plate. I also noticed a huge crack in my visor. My compass was gone and with it the marker on Saya had vanished. I brought up my TACPAD and checked my systems. If I use the retract ability, the auto repair should be able to fix up my armor like new. But it'll take 3 days. Assuming I don't damage it anymore. Comms were working just fine too. Just then Rika contacted me. "Hey Spartan. Is that thing dead yet?" She asked. I chuckled. "I'm working on it." Suddenly I coughed up some blood. Shit. That's bad. "Hey what's your status Spartan? You sound like shit." She asked nervously. I dropped to my knees. "Can the others hear you?" I asked. She hesitated before answering. "Just Kiriko. Why?" I looked out the window. Pluton was now smacking around some undead. He looked like he was having a blast. I stood again. "This might be it for more Rika. He's different from the average alien monkey. He's kicking my ass good." I said. "Then we'll go back and help you!" Rika said. I shook my head. "Absolutely not. He'll kill you before you even click the safety off." Rika began to protest but I cut her off. "Save your breath Rika. I've got him on the ropes anyways." I told her. For a few seconds she didn't say anything. "You can't die now Sev." She said, her voice tight. I smiled. "Spartans never die Rika. They just go missing in action." I said. Then, faintly, I heard something new. It sounded like a dog barking. Fuck me. "Rika why isn't Zeke with you?" I asked. "Damn dog ran back to help you." She said quietly. Then what I heard next almost killed me. "Zeke come back!" Alice yelled. Where she got the bike was beyond me. "WHY THE FUCK IS ALICE HERE!?" I yelled. "WHAT?!" Rika screamed.

I jumped down into the street. Pluton looked at Zeke who was standing between me and him. "ALICE GO BACK!" I yelled. She was frozen by the wall on the far side of the street. I tried getting up but my legs weren't working. The pain was keeping me down. "Fuck no. Not right now." I said through gritted teeth. I stood up and faced Pluton. Zeke was barking like crazy trying to keep the brutes attention away from me and on him. "ALICE! GO BACK! RIGHT NOOOOOOOOW!" I roared. That seemed to do the trick. She spun around on the bike and pedaled hard. Zeke kept barking and growling, running left and right. Pluton finally decided he was done playing with Zeke. The brave pup ran at the brute and sank his teeth into his left leg. "ZEKE! NO!" I cried out. Pluton simply picked him up by his neck. That's when everything became silent. Zeke snarled and barked bravely but I couldn't hear it. I couldn't even hear myself calling out to the dog. Then the brute flicked his wrist and the dog went silent. The only noise I registered was the bones in his little neck snapping. My eyes grew wide as my heart shattered. The brute lightly tossed the dog to me. Zeke dropped right into my arms. His eyes were open and his tounge was hanging limp from his open mouth. "Zeke?...c'mon pup...answer me..." I begged. Pluton roared again and started beating his chest. "Zeke." I said again. I looked up at Pluton and saw that he was laughing. He was pointing at the dead dog and laughing. Dog or not he was still a part of our group. He was family. How can I face Alice now? That's another life I couldn't save because of the covenant. I set Zeke down gently. "I'll be back." I told the dead dog. Suddenly all the pain in my body disappeared. I stood up and faced the brute as my vision started turning red. "I'm going to kill you." I whispered. He stopped laughing and looked at me as if he was confused. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" I yelled. I charged and my vision turned red.

I dropped to the ground next to Zeke exhausted. As I laid there I tried remembering the fight. I remember losing my helmet. I remember picking up a car and launching it at Pluton. I also remember being in 2 places at once. "Must...be going...crazy..." I muttered. I remember finally killing Pluton by ripping the brutes head completely off. Other than that, nothing. I don't even remember the sun setting. I'd just have to look at the helmet feed later...if there was a later. I looked at Zeke and closed his eyes. "Sorry pup." I said. I saw my helmet about a foot away from Zeke. I crawled too it and donned it. I tired my comm. "Rika...you...there?" I asked weakly. Almost immediately she responded. "Yeah I'm here! Alice is too! We're all ok. Just waiting for you and Zeke." She said happily. I shook my head. "Zeke...didn't...make it...I'm too...beat down...can't move..." I said. Then I started losing consciousness. "Sorry...over for...me..." I said. Her voice started sounding very far away. Suddenly I saw Rei. We were in Hiranos backyard. She was smiling and laughing. That sound was so beautiful. Then I was kissing her again. All I wanted was to be close to her again. "Tell Rei..." Rika cut me off. "No. You tell her when you get here." She said. I barely heard her. I tried to speak again but passed out.

"On your feet Spartan." I heard someone say. Then I heard a girl laugh. "Jeez ever since we were little. He sleeps like a rock." I opened my eyes and saw that I was in a field. There was a beautiful tree on a hill and there was flowers everywhere. The sun was shining brightly but there was also clouds in the sky. A warm breeze was blowing a sweet scent through the air. Strawberrys. I sat up and was surprised that I felt no pain. I was also out of my armor. I closed my eyes. "Did I really just die?" I asked angrily. The girl laughed. "No Cisco. You didn't die." The girl said. I opened my eyes. Only 1 person calls me that. I stood up and turned around. There standing in front of me was Raymond and Chelsea. Raymond was wearing a white t shirt and blue jeans. He was smiling, which was weird because the last time I saw that I was 6 years old. Chelsea was wearing a green sun dress. Her hair was down. Normally it was blonde but in this sun her hair looked almost gold. She cocked her head sideways. "Do we not get a hug or-" She started. Before they knew it I tackled them both to the ground.

I was sobbing and yelling. "Forgive me! I should have been watching your backs and I was supposed to be the fastest but I fucked up! I'm so fucking sorry" I sobbed. Raymond just laughed and sat us all up. All I could do was cling to the both of them and cry. "I'm sorry! I promised to keep you both alive and I couldn't!" I yelled. Chelsea just stroked my hair. "That's just like you to blame yourself for our deaths." She said. "He's always been dramatic Chel." Raymond said. I looked at them. They both looked happy. "Don't blame yourself brother. It happened. What you should be focusing on now is waking up and getting to the others. They still need you." Raymond said. I sniffled. "Final orders boss?" I asked. He claped me on my back. "That and survive. You'll be able to enjoy life here. You'll find a safe zone. Then you'll make that pretty girl super happy." He said. Chelsea nodded. "What's her name again? Rei right?" She asked. I nodded. Chelsea smiled. I heard a dog barking and turned around. Suddenly Zeke was in my face and licking wildly. I held the dog and chuckled. "It's good to see you too boy!" I said. Zeke barked in agreement then jumped into Chelseas arms. My late teammate looked at me. "When you wake up. Bring him with you. You bury his body and we'll take care of his spirit ok. Don't be so hard on the girl either, she was just trying to help out." Chelsea giggled. "She could have done it things differently but she is just a kid. Also your going to hurt like hell when you wake up but you'll be just fine. Don't ask how but I stopped your internal bleeding and fixed up your insides." She kissed my forehead. "But that's the only 1 up you get ok. Now get back there. Everyone is worried sick." Chelsea told me. "Wait. 1. Will I ever see you guys again and 2. How did Pluton get to the past?" I asked. Raymond chuckled. "1. Yes you will." He said as he faded out. I turned to Chelsea. She smiled. "2. Slip space blast. And he was beat up good. Courtesy of 1337." She said. "Of course." I said as I facepalmed.

REIS POV TAIEI SHOPPING MALL

I sat on the root drinking strawberry soda. Alice had returned hours ago unharmed. After a serious lecture from Saya and Rika, the girl was to stay in sight no matter what. But what she told us about what she saw scared us. She said she saw Francisco struggling to get up and that monster was just toying with him. We could hear fighting all the way at the mall. Every once in a while we saw a purple ball fly through the sky or hear an explosion. Eventually I went downstairs with the others. The only ones who stayed up top on the roof was Rika and my mom. We heard the sounds of fighting all the way into the night. Then around 9:00 it stopped. A few minutes later Rika and my mom came back downstairs. We asked them what happened but they didn't said anything. They just walked past us. I grabbed my moms arm. "What happened?" I asked. My mom just looked at me. For a minute she didn't say anything. Finally she sighed. "Sev...didn't..." She couldn't finish her sentence. Then she walked away. Something shattered. We all spun in that direction to see that Rika had just punched out a window. She was breathing heavy and her hand was bleeding. Shizuka just sighed, grabbed her medical bag, and went to her.

That was an hour ago. Now here I was. A small fire keeping me warm and a soda keeping me awake. Only a few lights worked in the parking lot. I heard a door open behind me. I turned around and saw Saeko walking up to me. "He'll return soon Rei." She said as she sat next to me. Like me, Saeko refused to believe that he died. "I know. I'm just waiting for him." I said. A minute passed. Then Saeko broke the silence. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Takashi and I." She said. "We didn't know when was the right time to tell you. Or everyone else for that matter." She said. I turned to her. "It's ok Saeko." I smiled. "I'm happy for you both. Honest." I assured her. I smiled at her. "We're ok Saeko. And we're GOING to be ok." I told her. She looked at me for a few seconds then smiled. "All we have to do now is wait for the-there he is!" Saeko shouted. I whipped my head back towards the lot and sure enough, there he was. But something was wrong. He was moving slow and holding something in his arms. His visor was cracked as was his armor. He also didn't have his blade but his shotgun was on his back. "I'll tell them to open the gate!" Saeko said. "I'll meet him there!" I said. And like that we were sprinting down the stairs. We burst through the door. Takashi, Misaki and, Hirano sat at a table in the cafeteria talking to Asami. The others were fast asleep. "Open the gate!" Saeko yelled. Our group was up instantly. "What?! Who!?" Yumi said groggily. I ran to the entrance and waited. Takashi, Saeko, Hirano, the twins and, Raymond arrived after a minute. Slowly the gate opened. Francisco was still about 40 yards away. That's when undead took notice of him.

Before Takashi could speak however Misaki, Yumi and, Raymond were already through the gate. "Go quite." Raymond told the twins. They nodded. Raymond ran to Francisco and stabbed one of Them before it could bite him. "Move man!" Raymond said. "I'm trying! I'm fucked up!" Francisco said. Where is Zeke? "The twins can fight." Saeko commented. We all looked at the Toriyama sisters and our jaws dropped. They were zooming all over Them, throwing kicks left and right. Yumi would throw a roundhouse kick and duck then Misaki would leap frog over her and stomp on the downed creatures temple. Then they'd jump and kick or roll and leg sweep. It was like watching an action movie when the heroes were surrounded and didn't have any weapons. Yup. That's how good they were. Raymond was no slouch either. Whenever one of Them got too close he would just swing his blade and the monster would drop dead. Finally Francisco limped through the door. Raymond turned around. "Twins! Finish the job!" He told them. They nodded and drew their pistols. Hirano chuckled. "Don't blink or you'll miss it." The teen told us. The twins drew their pistols. Misaki with her 1911 and Yumi with her dual glocks. Then they fired. It sounded like a machine gun was firing non stop. In 3 seconds it was over. All undead stopped moving. The twins just holstered their pistols and walked back. After a few seconds the undead started dropping randomly. Hirano chuckled. "I swear those 2 have telepathy or something." He said. The gates closed after they walked through.

I turned around to talk to Francisco but didn't see him. Then I saw him climbing the stairs to the others. "He's hurt." I said. "He must be looking for Shizuka." Hirano said. We nodded and chased after him. We reached the top of the stairs just in time to see Francisco setting something down on the table. Then he took a step back and retracted his armor. We just watched and waited. Hirano walked over to the table. "Oh no." Hirano said. I looked at the table and gasped. There on the table was Zeke. But he wasn't moving. I turned back to Francisco just in time to see him fall out of his suit. "Shizuka!" I said as I ran over too him. His body was bruised badly and he had what looked like burn marks on his chest and neck. His face was bloody. He looked like he just got hit by a train. "Hey gorgeous..." Francisco said weakly. Tears were welling in my eyes. "Hey handsome." I replied. Half of his face was caked in blood. He also had blue stuff on his face and neck. "I'll be fine ok...just sleepy..." Francisco told me. I nodded, unable to speak. "Holy shit." Takashi muttred. Everyone else was speechless. Only Shizuka moved. Her bag was open and she was tending to the Spartan quickly. Francisco closed his eyes. "Finish...the retract..." He said. "I'm on it." Saya said. He nodded and looked back to me. "So...did you figure...it...out yet" He asked. I cocked my head sideways. "Figure what out?" I asked. He smiled. "The thing." He said. Then he passed out. I nodded and buried my face in his neck. "Yeah...yeah I did."

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><p>This chapter was by far the most feels filled chapter. What's going to happen when the twins find out that Tajima was Rikas partner? I don't know but it's going to be crazy for sure.<p>

Also I hope you guys like the 3 new characters I was going to introduce them earlier but it didn't feel right yet. Any Percy Jackson fans get my nice little nod to Uncle Rick.

As always thanks for reading and let me know what y'all think shout out to elite ducky he always keeps in 100.

Also the feels shit won't continue much longer.

The Bounty Hunter


	11. Chapter 11

I'm goin in!

I don't own Highschool of the DEAD nor do I own Halo.

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><p>Chapter 8<p>

Running from the DEAD, Anxious to live

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><p>REIS POV TAIEI SHOPPING MALL 2 DAYS AFTER FIGHTING PLUTON<p>

I thanked the person handing out food and walked back to our area. "Hey Rei, wait up!" I turned around and saw Asami jogging to catch up with me. "Hey Asami. It's good to see you." I said. The rookie cop smiled. "Likewise! So where ya headed?" She asked. "Just back to our little area. Francisco needs some more water. Shizuka says that she can give him some food and water in his current condition but he needs to wake up soon." I told her. Asami must have picked up that I was a lot more worried than I sounded. She put a hand on my back as we walked. "Have faith. From what you've all told me he sounds almost invincible. He'll be awake before you know it." Asami reassured me. I nodded. "I hope so. We have to get moving or else we'll miss the evac. That's assuming They don't breach the barricade." I said. Asami nodded. "It's a shame most of the other survivors in this mall don't believe it'll happen." The officer said.

Out of everyone in the mall. The only ones willing to come with us are 2 elderly couples, a family of 4,(the wife is also pregnant)an American couple that was here on their honeymoon and Asami. After she saw her superior officer as one of Them, she decided that she was done being here. Especially since most of the people here were total dicks to her. Another thing is that she and Hirano were growing closer together. The day we got here Hirano and Saya had gotten into a serious argument. Hirano just snapped. He told her that he'd never wronged her in any way but she just continued to berate him and he didn't understand why. Saya said that he didn't have the smarts to understand why. Other words were said then Rika and Takashi had to break them up. They said little to each other after that. Then Hirano and Asami began talking and going up to the roof together. They weren't dating but Shizuka suspected that they at least liked each other.

The only reasons we were still here was because of Francisco and Them. When the Spartan had returned he passed out cold after removing his armor. Saya managed to put his armor into the cube form along with his helmet. After that it said that it was reparing itself but needed 80 hours to do so. That was just his armor. The wearer of said armor was burned and bruised all over. At first Shizuka thought he had internal injuries but after checking him for over an hour she found no signs of that. But she was certain that his ribs were bruised. As was his back, chest and, an arm. He also had burns on his chest, neck, back and, on the right side of his face. Luckily the burns weren't severe but that was only half of the problem. The other half was Them.

The night that the Spartan returned he didn't return alone. The gunfire from the twins didn't help either. A large number of Them began to move in and were congregating in the parking lot. Not only that but in the middle of the night, a loud screeching noise was heard. It sounded for about 5 minutes then stopped. In the morning we saw that the number of Them had doubled. The following night the screeching noise was heard again but for 10 minutes. Again the number of Them grew but this time the opposition was staggering. Tonight we figured that the screech would sound again. Rika suspected that it was only a matter of time before the noise attracted a(as dubbed by Hirano and the twins)titan or (my personal favorite)a shadow monster. The barricade wouldn't hold very long if the dead came knocking. I shuddered and pushed that thought away. Either way if Francisco doesn't wake up soon...

We walked into our area which consisted of team Takashi and the mall survivors who wanted to come with us to the school. There was a few tables and some bed rolls for everyone. Asami and I walked up to a table where Takashi, Rika and, Raymond were sitting. "Hey guys. I got some food for everyone." I said. "Hi everyone." Asami greeted. The others greeted us in return and accepted the food. "Thanks Rei." Raymond said. Rika and Takashi nodded. "So how's sleeping beauty?" Rika asked. "Still out cold. Shizuka says he's healing rather quickly though. She doesn't understand how." I told them. Takashi chuckled. "He's a genetically enhanced super soldier guys. Of course he's going to have some sort of accelerated healing." The teen leader said. The rest of us laughed nervously. Rika scratched the back of her head. "Yeah I guess we forgot about that." Rika said. I got up to check on Alice when the door to the roof flew open and my mom rushed in. "Everyone! We have a serious problem!"

"Fuck me." Rika said. We stayed low on the roof and watched as 3 titans lazily walked along the outskirts of the parking lot. Takashi crawled away from the edge of the roof and laid on his back. He stared at the sky. "Do you think if I punch Sev in the face he'll wake up?" He pondered. I rolled my eyes. "No Takashi. That won't wake him up." I told him. The others snickered. "Why don't we take this conversation inside." Raymond said. We nodded and all crawled out of sight, then went back downstairs. The only ones on the roof was Takashi, my mom, Raymond, Rika, Asami and, myself. Saya, Shizuka, Hirano and, Alice were watching Francisco. The other survivors were scattered among our area.

Takashi cleared his throat. "Everyone! Please listen up." They all turned towards Takashi. I looked at my mom but she just shrugged her shoulders. "Things have changed. Right now there are 3 titans outside." He said. "As of now they are on the outskirts of the parking lot. They haven't noticed us yet and we'll be out of here before they do. If you're having second thoughts of coming with us please don't. We won't force you to come with us but if you stay here you will die." He said grimly. Everyone was silent. Takashi then turned to us. "My friends and I can protect you. We WILL get you all to safety but all I ask is that you trust us. If you're still willing to come with us raise your hand." At first nobody did anything. Takashi looked at everyone. "Please trust me." He pleaded. Again no one did anything. Takashi frowned and started to walk away but Rika stopped him. "Look." She said. Takashi turned back around and saw that everyone was raising a hand. The American husband spoke. "Listen man all I care about is getting my wife outta here. So we're going with you. But if something happens to me then swear that you'll save her." His wife started to speak but he stopped her. "You'll be fine ok." He told his wife. The woman looked scared but nodded. "Also...if for some reason you have to save us both...save her first. Do I have your word?" The man asked. Takashi nodded. "You have my word." The man smiled.

Takashi turned to the other people. "It's too late to leave today but hopefully we can leave tomorrow. That's if our friend wakes up. If not then a larger group will leave while a smaller group stays." The other survivors nodded but our group looked a little worried. Alarm bells were going off in my head. I sure as hell didn't want to split up. Knowing Takashi and my mom, they'd most definitely make me go with the larger group. I didn't want to leave the Spartan however. Takashi whispered something to Rika then walked into the furniture store. Rika turned to us. "The boy wonder wants to talk to us in the couch area. I'll let the others know." She said. We nodded and went over to the meeting area. I had a really bad feeling about what was going to happen.

Everyone was gathered in the furniture store except Alice and the other survivors. It was just us Fujimi survivors, the Blackwater trio and, Asami. At first no one said anything. Takashi just sat there deep in thought. Finally Saya spoke. "You should have run this by us first." She said. Takashi sighed and nodded. "Yeah but with those titans out there I didn't have much of a choice. Those people are scared and I don't want to let them down nor do I want to keep them out of the loop." Takashi said. "Look what's done is done." Hirano said. "If this is the plan then I'm in. But why split up?" He asked. Takashi looked back towards the little camp. "I don't want to put Sev in anymore danger. If we bring him unconscious we'd have to leave his armor. Not only that but the guy weighs almost 400 pounds. Dragging him around unconscious and outside would be dangerous for us and him. I don't want to risk his life like that." He explained. "But do we really have to split up? Isn't there another way?" I asked. Takashi nodded. "Yeah. Maybe there are other ways but we don't have time to think them up." He told me. "So who do you want to stay?" Saeko asked.

Takashi looked at Saeko. The samurai was sitting right next to him. He stared at her in a way I've never seen him stare at any girl. Not even me. Then he kissed her lovingly. No tounge or lip smashing but soft and gently. This caught her by surprise but she kissed him back. Shizuka was smiling widely and Rika snickered. I smiled too. I was truly happy for those 2 but I also had an idea of what he was going to say. He pulled away and held her hand. "You don't know how crazy I am for you Saeko. I love you. You know that right?" He asked. Saeko was blushing brightly. "Of course I know that. I love you too." She responded. Raymond sighed. "Look Takashi. I'll stay with him. You just get the others out." He told him. Takashi shook his head. "No. I'm the only one that stays." The teen leader said. Everyone in the room began to argue but Takashi raised his hand for silence. We all stopped but Raymond wasn't backing down.

"You're too young to play hero kid. Wait until you've earned a few more stripes before you go and get yourself killed." The giant merc then looked at Saeko. "You really want to run the risk of not seeing Saeko again?" Raymond asked. Takashi shook his head. "We'll see each other again. At the evac." He said looking at Saeko. She closed her eyes and nodded. "If this is what you want then so be it. But please...don't keep me waiting Takashi." Saeko said. Hirano stood up. "Well you aren't getting rid of me Takashi." Takashi began to protest but Hirano cut him off. "Not going to hear it man. My mind is made up. Besides..." Hirano looked at Raymond. "Mr. Cameron can protect Saya for me. Just for a little bit. Right sir?" Saya looked stunned and Raymond simply nodded. "I do owe you one. Consider it a debt repayed for that favor back in Denver." Raymond said. Takashi sighed. "Fine. Everyone else...be ready to leave tomorrow. Rika will be in charge until Sev, Hirano and, I catch up." Takashi said. Then he stood. "That's all. Go and get ready. And let the others know. Rika I need to talk to you." Takashi said. Then he turned and walked away. The others began to leave. Rika sighed and followed Takashi. I began to leave but then decided against it. I turned around and followed Takashi and Rika.

The 2 were sitting next to each other on a set of armchairs. Rika pulled out a cigar and lit it. Takashi just sat there, as if trying to figure something out. I decided to stay hidden and stood behind a pillar. For a minute they didn't say anything. Rika just smoked her cigar and Takashi sat in his chair. Finally Rika broke the silence. "Is this the part where you tell me to go on without you if you don't show up?" She asked as if inquiring about the weather. Takashi was silent. "If I try and get the others to leave without you 3 Saeko will kill me, then Saya will kill me and, then Rei will kill me." Takashi chuckled. "Naw they won't do that. They know that the group takes priority." He said. The sniper nodded and took another puff of her Cuban. She exhaled then continued. "Still...they won't like it." Rika told him. The teen nodded. "The day this all started...I killed my best friend. Because of me he was bitten...he was also dating Rei. That's part of the reason we broke up." Rika was silent. Takashi paused to take a breath. I can't believe he blames himself for Hisashi. He didn't tell me that. "If I had been faster or if I hadn't hesitated he'd still be here...he'd be the one leading us not me." Takashi said. He sounded sad but he wasn't crying. "Look...I let Rei down already by not saving Hisashi. I REFUSE to let that happen again. But if we aren't there by the time the last bus or helicopter or whatever is getting people out is ready to go then you get everyone on and leave. Understood?" Rika said nothing but nodded. I was stunned. Would Takashi really be ok with being left behind? They began to stand so I turned around and silently left.

I sat silently next to Francisco as I packed my things. There was definitely a lot going on. Francisco was still unconscious. Takashi was helping the others. Only Alice was with me. She had packed quickly. Since his return Alice refused to leave his side. She only left to watch us bury Zeke. We found a huge pot that held a ficus so we removed the ficus and placed Zeke inside, then placed the pot somewhere we thought nobody would knock it over. I silently swore that I'd come back here for him. During the burial Alice cried her eyes out. All of us Fujimi survivors cried actually. That dog had been a big part of the group. We still don't know what happened but knew his neck was snapped. After that Alice went right back to the Spartans side. She didn't talk much after that, not even to Saya. Which was weird because she had grown very close to her.

"What's on your mind munchkin?" I asked. She didn't respond. Again I asked. This time she just shook her head. "...This is all my fault..." She said. "What is?" I asked. Then it dawned on me. "Alice do you think Francisco is hurt because of you?" She said nothing but grabbed his hand. "Alice that's not your fault. He knew what he was doing. He-" She cut me off. "If I didn't run away like I did and distracte him he wouldn't be this hurt and Zeke wouldn't be dead." She said quietly. "This is all my fault..." She finished. "Alice..." I started. "I'm just a dumb kid and now he's going to die because of me!" She screamed. Her change of tone threw me off. Others stopped what they were doing to look at the now crying girl. She just got up with tears streaming down her face and walked away. I began to stand but suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Raymond. "I'll talk to her." Was all he said before following her slowly. Alice had turned into the furniture store so Raymond followed. I got up and went to Hirano, Misaki and, Yumi. They had seen the merc follow Alice but disregarded it. "Is he good with kids?" I asked bluntly. All 3 nodded. "He used to have a wife and a daughter." Misaki said. "Let's just leave it at that." Yumi finished. Hirano nodded. Used to? I nodded and went back to packing. About an hour later Raymond and Alice walked out of the store. Alice was sound asleep in his arms. He gently put her to bed then went back to checking his gear like nothing happened. I looked at the girl and she looked like she was actually sleeping peacefully. She even had a smile on her face. That night I decided to sleep next to Francisco. I curled up close to him and drifted into dreams.

Night came and went quickly but this time there was no shrieking in the middle of the night. Alice seemed like she was back to her usual self which was good. She apologized to me for yelling and I told her it was nothing. Breakfast was a somber event. Everyone knew what was about to happen, what we were about to do. The twins, Raymond and, Asami spoke quietly with Hirano. The girls looked nervous but Raymond and Hirano were doing what they could to relax them. Takashi and Saeko sat against a wall, holding hands and actually smiling and laughing. I guess they were making the most of what little time they had left together. Even if it was for a little while. I sat with Rika, Shizuka, Saya and, Alice. My mom was on the roof keeping watch. We sat close to the Spartan quietly. "I don't want to leave without my onee-chan." Alice said. Rika ruffled her hair. "They'll catch up soon munchkin. Try not to worry about it too much." Rika told her. Then she looked at me. "They'll be ok." She assured us. Alice said she needed to use the restroom so Shizuka took her. Someone cleared their throat behind us. We turned around and saw Hirano standing there smiling. "Saya...can we talk?" The question took the Takagi heiress by surprise. Then she was back to her...less than pleasant self. "Why don't you go and talk to Asami." She said. Hirano just chucked. "C'mon Saya humor me. After all I might never see you again." Rika shot him a look. "Don't talk like that!" She told him. Hirano chuckled. "Right. Sorry about that." He said. Saya suddenly stood. "You have 60 seconds Hirano." Then she turned on her heel and walked into the furniture store. The marksman just chuckled. He nodded to us then followed her. I smiled. "That should be interesting." I said. Rika shook her head. "He shouldn't talk like that. It's bad luck." Rika said. "I think he just said that so that they'd talk." I said. Rika still looked a little mad. "Still..." She said.

About 15 minutes later they returned. Saya and Hirano were both smiling. Just then my mom came back down from the roof. "We should get going. Like right now." She looked really shaken up. Takashi walked over to her. "What is it?" He asked her. "There's something else out there." My mom said. "It's...different from the others. It seemed..." She looked back at the door leading upstairs. "It seemed intelligent. It killed those titans in less than a minute." She told us. Rikas jaw dropped. "What!? How!?" She exclaimed. The rest of us were just as shocked. Even though Rika and Francisco were the only ones who had fought a tank, the news was still startling. "He...it...was so fast...all over those things and..." She looked confused. Then she looked at Takashi. "You can't stay here for long. That monster is smart. He's going to get in here. And it's going to happen soon." She told him. The teen nodded. "We'll be right behind you." Then he turned to the others. "Ok, time for you guys to leave." He said. Shizuka then spoke up. "I'm staying too." Takashi looked at her. Before he opened his mouth Rika cut him off. "Takashi, when he wakes up he's going to need someone with medical experience to look after him. You know it and Hirano knows it so don't argue." Takashi just shook his head chuckling. "Ok then. Now comes the hard part." He said. He was right. Time for us to get going. Time for us to leave...without our friends.

Asami led us into a service hall. It felt a lot longer than it actually was. Everyone was quiet too. Suddenly we came to a door that said "EMPLOYEES ONLY! DO NOT ENTER!" in big yellow letters. We passed though it and came into a storage room. From there we went through another door and walked into what looked like a locker/break area. "This was the security team break room." She explained. Then she pointed to a set of double doors. "Through those doors is another hallway that will lead to an underground parking lot behind the mall. We can walk out from there." Asami said. Rika turned to face everyone. "Ok everyone this is it. Please check your things one last time." She said. We did as we were told. Once everyone was ready we got into formation. Our non fighters were in the middle and the rest of us on the outside of them. Rika and Raymond were in front. Misaki and Yumi were on the left side and my mom and I in the back. Saeko and Asami took the right side. Takashi looked at us. "Everyone please be safe." He said. Raymond turned around. "I'm not saying goodbye, I'm saying good luck." Raymond told him. Shizuka and Rika kissed again. So did Takashi and Saeko. Asami, Misaki and Yumi all kissed Hirano on his checks. The teen was as red as a tomato but grinned wildly. Even Saya hugged him. "Ok then. Let's move out!" Rika said. Then we waved one last time and walked through the doors.

SEVS POV TAIEI SHOPPING MALL

My eyes shot open and I quickly took in my surroundings. I sat up and looked around. It was either early in the morning or late in the afternoon. "LET HER GO ASSHOLE!" Someone yelled. Then I heard a woman yelling. "Get away!" She cried out. I turned in the direction of the yelling and saw Takashi and Hirano both aiming weapons at a man holding Shizuka hostage. He had a knife to get throat. "Shit." I said as adrenaline started flowing through my body. I stood quickly and looked around for a weapon. Next to my armor I saw my blade. I snatched it up and looked around. There was a staircase that would let me get behind them and get the drop on everyone. I silently ran to it and creeper up. When I was close to the top I got low and readied my blade. The hostage taker pointed his blade at the teens. "Back up fuckers! She's mine!" He yelled. I saw my chance and took it. I rushed him and put my blade on his throat. Everyone froze. The unknown man still had his arm outstretched. "Drop your weapon or I'll feed you to Them piece by fucking piece. And I'll make sure you're alive for every single second until the very end." I said quietly but menacingly. Takashi and Hirano were wide eyed. Shizuka was trying hard to not cry.

The man was trembling. Finally he found his ability to speak. "Ok I'm dropping it." He said. The knife fell out of his hand and he released the nurse. She ran forward to the others and stood behind them. If there was one thing I hated, it was someone messing with my friends. But one thing I hated more was men like this. I removed my blade but grabbed the man and threw him. Hard. He landed and rolled several feet. He struggled to get up. "If I ever see you again, I'll kill you. Understand?" I said. The man nodded vigorously and limped away. After I calmed down I started feeling my fight with Pluton. And a lot of hunger. I turned to the others who were looking at me wide eyed. "Food please." I said as I set I the floor. Shizuka nodded and ran back downstairs. I looked around expecting the others to come running but no one came. I turned to Takashi. "Where are the others?" I asked. He laughed nervously. "It's a good thing you're sitting down man. I've got some news for you..."

I groaned as Shizuka unwrapped the bandages on my chest. "So they left yesterday in the morning?" I asked. Takashi and Hirano both nodded. "They should be at the school by now. Hopefully they made it there safe." Shizuka said. "I'm sure Rika got them all there just fine." Hirano said. Shizuka nodded and stood. "You're healing quickly Sev. How do you feel?" She asked. I stood and stretched. "A little pain in my ribs. Also sore but aside from that I'm ready to go." I told her. "Are you sure?" Takashi asked. I nodded and went to my armor. "Yeah let's get out of here. I've wasted enough time sleeping and the others are waiting for us." I said. Shizuka giggled. "I know who wide is waiting for you." She said. I blushed as the others chucked. I walked over to my armor. "Tell me me about the super fast type." I said as I typed commands into my armor. Takashi shrugged. "We've told you what we know. Kiriko is the only one who saw it. The damn thing killed 3 titans like nothing. Then disappeared. That's all." He said. "Damn. Then we need to get going. It could be stalking the others." I said looking at him as my I quickly stepped into my armor and it closed. Hirano raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. "So Takashi, your mom is a teacher at this school?" Hirano asked. The other teen nodded. "Yeah. Hopefully she's ok." He replied. I donned my helmet. "Hey man, she has to be a badass since she has a son like you." I said. "I hope so. I've been pretty worried. I have no idea about my dad though. He went on a business trip to the U.S. but then all this happened. He's most likely still in..what's the state called..oh right Colora-" He was cut off by a barrage of gunshots.

We all turned. "What was that about?!" I asked. We heard screams and more gunfire. Takashi shouldered his backpack. "Time to go. Grab what we need." He said. I grabbed my G36C and my knife. No time to run a diagnostics on my suit. The fighting sounded like it was getting closer. "Can we leave now?" I asked. Just then the gunfire stopped. The screaming stopped shortly after. Takashi held a finger to his lips. We all nodded. We collected our things and Takashi took point. We ran into a service hallway, through a storage area and, finally into a break room. "Ok guys, through the double doors. Check equipment one last time." Takashi said. I looked at my radar and saw about 70 red dots and counting heading straight for us. "Takashi I got at least 70 contacts and counting. We have about 2 minutes." I said. They nodded. "Is everyone set?" Takashi asked. We all nodded. "Ok then. Let's get the fuck out of here!" He said. I took point and we ran out of the small room.

After going through a set of double doors and a hallway we found ourselves in a parking lot. There were some bodies but thankfully no one from our group. As we moved to the exit a thought hit me. "Please tell me we know where the hell we're going." I said. "Yeah Saya drew us up a map. We know what landmarks to look for and where to go." Hirano said. We jogged to the other end of the lot and saw the way out. After I cleared the street we took off. We looked back 1 more time to see that the mall was gone. The amount of Them just trying to get in was around 5 or 600. And those were the ones we could see. I checked my radar and saw contacts in the underground lot. "Fuck. It's not safe here. That horde will find us if we stay here any longer. Let's go." I told the others. Then we took off down the street. It was about 10:00 in the morning when we left the mall. There weren't any of Them for about 3 blocks as we sprinted away from the mall. Eventually we saw undead but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle. After an hour we slowed down to a very fast walk once Takashi felt that we'd put enough distance between that horde at the mall and us.

Then for the next several hours that was the pace we kept. I noticed that Hirano was looking at me curiously from time to time but I simply dismissed it. We stopped at the east police station to eat and found a note from the others on the front entrance. Shizuka picked it up and read it out loud. "Takashi, everything is going smoothly. No casualties and we're making good time. Police station is clear but that may change when you get here. Saeko sends her love. Saya, the twins and, Asami send...good vibes to Hirano and Rei sends kisses to the Spartan. Tell Shizuka I'm going to rock her world when I see her again. Rika." Shizuka smiled sadly. "Oh I love her." She whispered. Takashi got up and hugged her. "We'll see them soon ok." He reassured her. She nodded and hugged him back. After another few minutes we were on the move again. After about 2 hours I remembered that I never finished my armor check. "Hey guys let's take 5 yeah? I have to run a diagnostics check on my suit." I said. The others agreed and we stopped. I typed some commands into my TACPAD and everything was green across the board.

"I was meaning to ask how you changed your armor." Hirano said. I looked up from my TACPAD. "Huh?" I asked. He tilted his head confused. "Um...your armor...it's different. It's still red but..." His sentence trailed off. I saw a window sill intact and walked over to it. My helmet was still the CQC type with the gold visor but my shoulders were now ODST pads. My chest piece was the same default type but had a thick piece of armor covering my stomach. My knee pads were now the air assault type. "What the..." I brought up my TACPAD again and saw that in the top left corner where is usually said speed configuration it now said assault configuration. "Doc Halsey didn't say anything about this." I said. "Who?" Shizuka asked. I turned to explain but paused. "I got something on radar." I said. We took up defensive positions around Shizuka but then the dot disappeared. "Tch. Stand down. I think we spooked-" I started but then a dot appeared again. This time behind us. I spun around. "Behind us!" I said. As I turned the first dot came back into range. Then 2 more to our left and right. We got 1 on each side of us! They're moving slow though." I said. "Can were out run em?" Takashi asked. I nodded. "Yeah but we'd have to face at least 1 before we could do that." I replied. "Ok. Let's do that then." Takashi said. We ran down the street and made a right.

Immediately we slid to a stop. Standing in front of us was a giant troll-like monster. It looked like a troll mixed with a demonic hunch back. It stood at least 20ft tall and had grey skin with blisters all over its body. Its teeth were crooked and yellow. Its throat was glowing red and pulsating. Even with my helmet on I could smell its putrid breath from down the street. Takashi took a breath. "Stay quite. Remember they can't-oh shit!" He exclaimed as the giant picked up a car with ease. I grabbed Shizuka. "Dodge!" I yelled just as it threw the car at us. Takashi and Hirano broke left as I jumped straight up. The car missed me by a few feet. When I landed I let Shizuka down. "Stay out of sight." I said. She nodded and ran. Takashi and Hirano started firing at the monster. Takashi was using a G36C and Hirano had his sniper. I pulled my weapon. "It can see us!" I said. As I started firing at its face. It roared again and covered its face with its left hand. Then it charged right at me.

Takashi and Hirano fired at its back but the giant ignored the pain. When it was close enough it jumped into the air, it looked like it was skydiving. I sprinted straight ahead but noticed I wasn't moving as fast as normal. The giant body slammed the street and everything shook like there was an earthquake. Takashi ran to the right side of the giant while Hirano did the opposite. "He's down! Fire!" Takashi yelled. We nodded and did just that. Hirano was aiming at its neck and Takashi at its side. The monster roared and swiped at the teens but they were just out of range. I was firing at its feet. "We got him I the ropes!" I yelled. Suddenly Shizuka screamed. I turned and saw that one of Them had gotten the drop on her and she was grappling with it. I could see it trying to bite her neck but she was keeping it back.

"Hirano! Help Shizuka!" I said. He nodded and ran to her. I turned back just in time to see the giants foot greet my face. Suddenly I was weightless. My shields took 1/4th of damage. The giant sent me flying down the street but I recovered mid air and landed on my feet. I grinned. I barely even felt the kick. "Thanks again Doc." I said as I sprinted back into the fray. The giant was on its feet again and tired to uppercut Takashi. It took a huge swing but Takashi was no pushover. Last second Takashi rolled right and dodged the giant fist. Contact definitely would have killed Takashi and sent him into space. The teen recovered from his roll with ease and fired at the giant. When Takashis shots connected the monster cried out in pain. Its hands went to its throat and it fell on its ass. Takashi backpedaled about 6ft and reloaded. Then he cried out. "Its throat! Shoot its throat!" I skid to a stop. I glanced back to Shizuka and saw that she was safe. Hirano was also reloading. The teen marksman looked at me and nodded. I turned back to Takashi. "Throat! Got it!" I yelled then my eyes widened. Somehow, an undead had snuck up on Takashi. "Behind you!" I warned. He spun around just in time to grab it by the shoulders. I took aim at the zombie but then the giant tried to stomp me. I jumped backwards just as its foot demolished the spot I was standing on. However the giant was smarter than I thought. It punched me mid air and sent me into a building. This time my shields dropped to half and my bruised ribs reminded me that I was still hurting. I landed on my feet in some apartment and slid backwards until I hit a wall.

Through the hole I made I saw that the giant went to pick up another car to throw at Takashi. "No you don't!" I heard Hirano tell defiantly. Hirano opened fire on it and shot its right elbow. The beast cried out in pain and released the car right above its head. The car landed on the giants head and rolled off it. The giants hands went to the top of its head. "My turn." I said as I sprinted to the new hole in the wall. As I ran I slung my G36C ok my back. Then I jumped through the hole and flew straight as the beast. I yelled as I cocked my right arm back. The giant looked up just in time to see me punch it right in the bridge of its nose. Its head snapped back and it fell on its back. I landed on its chest. I readied my weapon and ran to its throat, then opened fire. Suddenly Takashi was right next to me. He was also unloading his mag on the giants throat. The beast roared in pain and thrashed about but couldn't get us off. Our guns clicked empty but the monster just laid there, dying slowly. I slammed another mag into my weapon and fired again. Takashi did the same. "Fucking die already!" Takashi yelled. Again we fired until our guns were empty. This time the giant laid on the street dead. We reloaded quickly and took a breather.

Shizuka and Hirano came running up to us. "Guys we have to go!" Hirano said. I looked at my radar and saw that the other 3 dots were closing in. 1 was already in view. Another giant was walking down the street towards us. "Ok. Let's move!" Takashi said. Suddenly another dot appeared on my radar. This time it was yellow and moving fast. "Guys I got a friendly on radar." I said. The others looked at me. "Really? Where?" Takashi asked. Then we heard the screech of tires. We turned around and saw a military hummer drift to a stop. Behind the wheel was non other than Rika Minami. Riding shotgun was Raymond Cameron. Both were grinning like crazy. Rika rolled her window down. "Heard the fighting. Y'all need a ride?" She asked smiling wide. Under my helmet I grinned. "Fuck yeah!" I exclaimed.

Then we jumped into the car and sped away from the giants. We drove for about an hour. Along the way Rika explained how tomorrow morning the SDF was pulling out. Since the window was closing fast, the 2 were given permission from Colonel Hideki to take a humvee and retrieve us. Then they drove back to the mall and saw it belonged to the dead. Not knowing what to do they decided to drive around the city looking for us. Just when they were about to call it they heard the gunfire and decided to check it out. Good thing too or else that would have been bad. Apparently they got there just fine. Rika said they didn't see any of the giants on the way there though. "Oh another bit of good news. Takashi your mom is alive and we'll. She's waiting for you at the school. Reis dad is there too. That was a happy reunion for damn sure." Rika said. Takashi was wide eyed. "Really? My mom's ok?" He asked. Rika nodded. "Yup." She replied. The teen seemed like her was in shock. "Oh god..." He said. I removed my helmet and smiled. "Told you so." I said. Takashi composed himself and nodded. "It's going to be smooth sailing from here on out everyone." Hirano said. We smiled. "Damn right."I said...It wasn't until I saw Shinji standing in the middle of the road, aiming an RPG at us, that I didn't know how wrong I was. That this whole "Getting from Hiranos house to the school." was only the beginning.

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><p>Next chapter is the final chapter. Don't freak out tho cuz I'm making this a series. This is just fic book 1.<p>

As always let me know what y'all think!

The Bounty Hunter


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